


Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat

by angelichl



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hate to Love, Louis Tomlinson Wears Harry Styles's Clothes, M/M, Miscommunication, Omega Louis, Rutting, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Shower Sex, Smut, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 04:45:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17542913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelichl/pseuds/angelichl
Summary: Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.





	Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen.
> 
> CW:  
> -louis describing the beginning of harry’s rut as slightly painful for him  
> -instances where louis would rather rest but harry is pushy so they have sex instead  
> -accidental bonding at the very end but both people are happy it happened :)  
> If you have any questions feel free to ask!

 

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

H a r r y

 

“I can just join you guys a few days later, it’ll be fine,” Harry reasoned. He was too preoccupied with removing a tomato sauce stain from his t-shirt to notice the incredulous stares around him.

His easy solution was met with uncharacteristic silence and he looked up to meet Niall’s eyes, finding him horrified.

Zayn’s brows were raised, and Louis kept his gaze trained on the last inch of beer in his glass. Liam was absent, busy finding a bowling ball of the perfect weight—apparently there was a specific algorithm to determine this.

An awkward moment settled at their table, heavy. Around them, the typical Thursday night crowd rolled on, uninterrupted. A few lanes down, a lady got a strike and their group erupted in cheers and laughter.

Finally, Niall pointed his finger at Harry and interrogated, “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” For a beta, he could be intimidating when he was ruffled. “We could’ve figured out a way to make it work!”

“It’s fine,” Harry repeated, not sure why this was such a big deal. He understood the vacation was important to Niall but he didn’t think missing the first two of seven days would be such an issue.

“It’s not fine, Harry! We’ve been- We’ve been planning this vacation for more than a year! We promised we would all be there no matter what!”

Harry’s alpha postured at being reprimanded in public, but he didn’t let it disrupt his composure. “Trust me,” he drawled, tone dry. “If I could skip my rut, I would.”

Alphas tended to enjoy their ruts very much, counting down the days until they could get off work and spend the next few days with an omega to satisfy their needs. For Harry it was different, rut was something he dreaded for various reasons. The end of each rut, when he would return to his senses and feel the comfort of total awareness wash over him, was always a relief.

Niall’s eye twitched and then he looked away. Harry could tell he was upset, annoyed, and frustrated but there wasn’t anything Harry could do about it. His rut was coming unexpectedly and he could feel that it was going to hit within the next few days, probably on Saturday.

“How come you only just found out?” Zayn asked just as Liam returned, clutching a hot pink bowling ball to his chest triumphantly and testing out its weight. “Don’t alphas have their ruts scheduled months in advance?”

“Usually,” Harry evaded. He was still a little embarrassed about what happened, even if it wasn’t  _ that  _ bad. An omega he met at a bar last weekend triggered his rut early. It could’ve been a lot worse, he could’ve gone into rut right then and there, but instead he just got the telltale signs of his “time of the year” approaching, warning him it would be soon.

“So what, then?” Louis asked, speaking up for the first time since Harry dropped the bomb about not being able to make the first few days of their group vacation. He had been uncharacteristically quiet, although it hadn’t been too abnormal because Louis rarely, if ever, interacted with Harry. Often, he pretended Harry didn’t exist. It would’ve been fine, except they were in the same friend group, and there was no effective way to avoid each other.

Harry stayed silent, so Liam filled him in: “Some omega got him all hot and bothered and triggered it early.”

“What? When?”

“Last week, at Blue’s.”

Blue’s was the bar they went to on the regular, almost every weekend. It was where Liam met Zayn, and, subsequently, Louis. It was also where the five of them got together for the first time. The bar held some pretty great memories for all of them.

Zayn laughed. “Wow, Harry. Pretty, was she?”

Harry tensed for a moment, uncomfortable with the conversation. Topics like this could be incredibly personal, especially when they struck so close to core instincts. He was annoyed at Liam for bringing it up. But given they were a group of betas, Harry and Louis the only exceptions, they didn’t really understand the nuances of scenters’ issues.

In fact he had to remind himself he was surrounded by betas—aside from Louis, the only omega of the group—before he could relax enough to laugh. It was easier to brush it off, even though he was bothered by the topic. Rolling his eyes, he said, “You don’t even know, man.”

Liam laughed too even though Niall was still glaring at Harry. Louis was staring at the bowling lanes like he was bored with the conversation. Harry went back to wiping the sauce stain on the hem of his shirt with a wet napkin that was crumbling a bit, leaving behind specks of white.

But Niall wasn’t going to let it go anytime soon. He looked like he wanted to say something else. Clearly, he was upset about Harry messing up their perfect vacation to Cancún.

Harry felt bad about it, he really did, because he knew how much effort Niall had put into planning it. He knew how much Niall just wanted to get the five of them together. To be honest, he was probably the only reason the five of them were still a cohesive group. Without him inviting them to his sets at Blue’s or setting up outings like this one at the bowling alley, they would hardly ever see each other.

“And you’re not spending it with an omega?”

Liam swatted his arm and then rubbed it soothingly because he felt guilty. “Niall, you can’t just ask people that.”

“It’s fine,” Harry said, even though it wasn’t really. He didn’t want to talk about this; it was embarrassing and personal and he felt self-conscious when he knew Louis was listening and judging him. Still, he soldiered on. “No, I’m not.”

He spared a glance at Louis who was fiddling with his phone case and staring at it with his brows furrowed.

“But it would shorten your rut and then you’d be able to come with us!”

“He prefers to go through it alone,” Liam said, looking to Harry for confirmation. He nodded, even if it wasn’t exactly the reason. Spending rut alone was torture and he didn’t  _ prefer  _ it. Spending it alone was just something he had to do. A necessity.

Niall huffed, exasperated. “Harry, come on. Why won’t you ask someone? There’re so many omegas out there who’d love to help. I get swarms of people asking for your number every time you perform with me at Blue’s. Seriously, what the fuck?”

So interested in the actions of the omega across the table, Harry caught Zayn turning his head to make eye contact with Louis, but Louis was busy running his nails over a crack on the red vinyl cover of the couch.

Liam looked back over at Harry and patted his arm when he saw his distressed expression and the way he was guarding himself. He had his arms folded over his chest, hands trapped beneath his armpits so he wouldn’t bite his nails. “Want me to say it?”

Liam was the most empathetic of the group, which meant he was the best at knowing when people needed to be comforted. Harry tended to retreat into his own shell when he was upset, rejecting offers from other people to cheer him up and make him feel better. But somehow Liam always knew when he needed a bit of physical comfort, like a quick hug, or petting his hair, versus being left alone.

“He already knows,” Harry grumbled.

In their friend group, it wasn’t a secret that Harry refused to spent his rut with other people, especially omegas. There were a million reasons why. A million excuses. Most of them centered around the fact that he was afraid of letting his instincts take over. He worried about hurting his partner, or forcing them to do something.

But Niall, Liam, Zayn, and Louis didn’t know that. They thought his hesitance about spending rut with an omega was more about not wanting to be vulnerable in front of someone he didn’t trust.

This belief was clear with what Niall said next: “What if we found someone you feel comfortable with?”

“Hypothetically,” Harry said slowly. He didn’t like where this was going, didn’t want them to restart setting him up with random omegas, all while Louis glowered at him for partaking in actions that defined him as the omega-objectifying alpha he tried so hard not to be.

“Hypothetically,” Niall agreed.

“Then, yes.” It wasn’t a lie. He didn’t enjoy spending rut alone but he did what he had to do. It would be nice, he imagined, to go through it with someone else. To have someone take care of him, someone he knew would be okay with saying no or telling him to fuck off if he ever did something that made them uncomfortable. Except-

“What about Nicole? Or Jarod? Or-”

“It’s in two days, Niall, I’m not asking someone to help out  _ two days _ before my rut. That’s just ridiculous.”

“I’m sure they’d both be fine with it. They love you.”

“I don’t think-” Harry began, but he was interrupted by the voice of someone who didn’t usually engage in these conversations.

“I can do it.”

Niall whipped around to look at Louis, moving so quickly he nearly broke his neck.

At the same time, Harry sucked in a breath so sharply he choked on his own spit.

As coughs wracked Harry’s body, Liam rubbed his back. All four of them stared at Louis, incredulous.

“What,” Zayn said.

“I can help him through it,” Louis clarified, fingers tight on his glass of beer. He didn’t meet Harry’s eyes. “It would make sense.”

They all stared at him, uncomprehending.

Louis huffed, crossing his arms in a defensive position. “His problem is that he doesn’t trust people to see him so vulnerable but we’re already friends so it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, we’re  _ just  _ friends so there’s no weird expectation afterward to start courting. And I’m O, obviously, so it’ll shorten his rut from five days to three. Which means he’ll have a day to rest and we’ll all make it to the airport on time just like Niall wants.”

Harry’s mind was still blank with shock. Everyone else’s was as well, if the silence was any indicator.

Liam was the first to break it. “Um… are you sure?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Everyone switched their gaze from Louis to Harry. Except Zayn. Zayn was still staring at Louis like he was trying to figure something out.

“Uh,” Harry said. His mind was unable to comprehend what Louis had just offered him. He knew he sounded dumb, like the knothead Louis thought he was, but he couldn’t help it. His brain was short-circuiting at the very thought of spending his rut not just with anyone, but with Louis.

Yet he knew the reasoning was logical and he didn’t want to insult the omega by rejecting him right here, in front of their friends. Louis already disliked him enough, and that would just be cruel.

They were still waiting for a response.

“Uh, okay,” Harry said dumbly. He felt like the biggest idiot on earth, especially with the way everyone else was looking at him.

“Good.” Louis tapped his fingers on the table, the sound somehow standing out in the noise surrounding them. “I’ll just need you to sign a form so I can send it to my boss for the days off work. We can talk about it later.”

“Uh, okay.”

Louis finished the last of his beer and set the glass down on the table with a sense of finality. He stood up, pulling his coat on and kissing Zayn on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“We’re talking when I get back,” Zayn demanded, letting him go.

“Yeah, yeah.” Louis turned to the table and waved goodbye to the rest of them. Harry was too dumbstruck to wave back.

He watched him leave. The way he walked was somehow intimidating while also managing to be distinctly omega. He didn’t sway his hips, but Harry was aware of the curves of his body, dressed in black high-waisted jeans and a blue hoodie that was cropped to reveal a slip of skin at his hips.

His neck was still exposed, and that was enough to turn heads as he left the bowling alley. Omegas were supposed to cover their mating mark or lack thereof with a scarf or turtleneck. Louis disregarded that social rule completely and dared anyone to comment on the blatant act of defiance. As a result, he received a share of dirty looks as well as lustful ones. Sometimes a mix of both.

Harry admired him for that. It was difficult to find the courage to subvert social standards yet somehow Louis managed to do it with ease. He received a lot of backlash, especially from older generations, but he didn’t care that everywhere he went people gave him dirty looks of distaste and disgust. He rejected the systems that oppressed him didn’t care much for others who weren’t brave enough to do the same.

Harry’s eyes remained trained on him until he disappeared out there door, into the night.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Liam mused.

Harry stayed quiet.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

Standing in front of his wardrobe for an inordinate amount of time, he realized, with nerves collecting in the pit of his stomach, that he had no idea what to wear.

If Louis decided to be on time today, he would arrive in ten minutes, at six o’clock exactly. There was no telling what the omega would be wearing, whether his outfit would consist of junky clothes or something nicer.

Usually for arrangements like this, there was an unspoken rule to dress comfortably because all clothing would be removed soon, anyway. But his rut wouldn’t begin for another day, meaning he had twenty-four hours of lucidity to worry about everything, including his decision between jeans and sweats.

He sighed, hitting his head on the wooden door of the wardrobe. Louis hated him at worst, and barely tolerated him at best. There was no need to dress to impress. Stupid Harry. He pulled on a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt, figuring they’d probably end up covered in come, slick, and sweat in no time.

He paced around his home, cleaning up any mess he could find, as he waited for the buzzer to ring. When it did, he was shoving a pile of clutter under his bed, embarrassed that he could be so messy, when others tended to assume he was organized. It felt like he was living a big lie, sometimes. He bumped his head on the nightstand on the way up and ran to the door, still wincing in pain.

“Hi,” Louis said, the door swinging open from Harry’s hand.

He was standing there in a vintage Adidas windbreaker and joggers, black baseball hat on his head, bangs brushing against his forehead. He looked beautiful and intimidating all at once.

“Uh, hey,” Harry greeted after a moment too long, opening the door wider and smelling Louis’ sweet scent. It immediately became overwhelming even when he was still standing in the hallway. “Welcome to my, uh, home.”

Louis brushed past him, walking into Harry’s apartment with a sort of confidence the typical omega didn’t tend to possess. He didn’t take his shoes off, but they didn’t look dirty, and Harry was too afraid to say anything, anyway.

Louis was just like that, a bold omega. He denounced social expectations at any chance he received. He defied those who attempted to control him, typically alphas and the occasional beta. He refused to fall into the accepted role of omega.

Also, his neck was uncovered, and Harry felt obligated to look away. The bare skin was tempting, and older generations would regard it as obscene.

Harry was definitely too close to his rut to think straight. He rubbed at his jaw and followed Louis to the kitchen counter where a form was waiting for him to sign. His head was still throbbing from hitting it on the nightstand.

His signature ended up looking more like a random scribble than anything, but he was glad his hands weren’t shaking. His entire body was thrumming with anticipation and anxiety, the knowledge that he had an omega in front of him, one he was meant to breed. Harry didn’t like to think like that, but the intentions of the situation were impossible to ignore.

“Thanks,” Louis said, picking up the form.

“There’s a scanner in my office, so you can email it.”

He led the way as Louis followed behind him, not hiding the way he appraised the apartment as they passed each room. Harry was proud of his apartment because it was beautiful and almost everything he wanted in his first home. He was on the corner of the building, and both the living room and his bedroom had french doors that lead out to balconies. His office had floor-to-ceiling windows as well and the other walls were comprised of book shelves, filled with his life’s library.

Louis didn’t seem particularly impressed by any of it but Harry reasoned that was just his personality.

He scanned the form and used Harry’s laptop to email it to his boss, repeating the explanation that he wouldn’t be at work for a few days because he was helping an alpha through rut. He had already discussed it with him in person, apparently, although Harry had no idea how a conversation like that would go down. Being an omega seemed so much more difficult than being an alpha.

“So, what’s the plan for dinner?” Louis asked, leaning back in Harry’s desk chair as Harry stood awkwardly on the other side of the desk. Stupidly, it felt like this was Louis’ house and he was the one in charge. It felt like Harry was just a guest.

When had their roles reversed? When had Harry turned into someone so awkward and tentative, he could’ve been mistaken for an omega? He squared his shoulders and fixed his posture, standing taller. Stupid Harry. He was so bad at being alpha.

And, oh. Dinner. Food in general. He hadn’t thought of that.

“I hadn’t really planned anything. Sorry.”

“That’s fine. Do you have enough food to get through rut?”

“Yeah, yeah. Usually I just eat protein bars and stuff.” He was more unprepared than he thought. Why didn’t he take into account that Louis needed to eat too? “Sorry, I didn’t think about-”

“That’s fine,” Louis repeated. “You should eat real food, though. What do you like? I can go to the store tonight.”

That was definitely not a good idea but Harry didn’t know what to say to keep Louis here. His inner wolf was already beginning to feel excessively protective and he couldn’t stomach the thought of the omega leaving the apartment. As much as Harry tried to fight it, he felt like he had a claim on Louis.

“Uhh,” he said. “I don’t think you leaving is a good idea.”

Louis narrowed his eyes at him. “I’ll be fine. I’m not helpless, you know.”

“No, I mean- like, my wolf doesn’t want you to leave. Now that you’re here, and with my rut and everything...”

The omega folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not eating protein bars for three days. You can come with me, if it’s such a problem.”

Harry’s wolf didn’t like anything to do with leaving the flat, but there were some things he would just have to accept. This was one of them. He still didn’t know how to act around Louis and it was weird but he was glad he had the excuse of his rut to explain why he was feeling so possessive.

“Okay,” he hedged. “But we should go now. I’m not sure how long we’ll have before it’s, like, unsafe.”

Louis rolled his eyes and stood up. “Let’s go, then.”

The drive to the grocery store was stilted. Louis insisted on being the driver because Harry wasn’t in the right state of mind to operate a motor vehicle that could potentially kill them or others. Harry grumbled about it but sat in the passenger’s seat anyway, feeling both restless and helpless. His alpha wanted to be in control but they both knew it was a bad idea.

Harry had so many questions for Louis but he was too intimidated to ask them out loud. Mostly, he was wondering why Louis offered to help, if he seemed to dislike Harry so much. Helping an alpha through rut was a big sacrifice for the sake of not messing up a vacation, although he was doing it for Niall’s benefit, which might’ve made it worth it. Harry wasn’t sure.

They had yet to discuss any logistics and Harry was beginning to think they never would. He knew not to bite Louis, obviously, but other than that, he didn’t know what else was off-limits. If he was a better alpha he would’ve asked, but he felt too awkward about it, too sure Louis would glare at him and give him that sinking feeling in his stomach that said the omega didn’t respect him at all.

Louis parked the car and then turned in his seat to look at him. “You sure you’re alright to go inside?”

He didn’t know what Louis was talking about at first until he looked down and saw his hands clenched on his thighs, fingers digging in. Louis’ sweet smell filled the car the entire drive and it was so tempting it made him feel delirious, his mind clouded with desire. He couldn’t bear the thought of other alphas’ eyes on the omega when they left the car…

“Should be okay,” Harry lied, unclenching his hands. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. Reckless, dangerous,  _ stupid. _

For the first time since Harry had known him, Louis’ face softened in sympathy while looking at him. “We’ll just be in there for twenty minutes and then we can go back home,” he consoled. “I know it’s hard. You’ll be okay, though. We’ll be okay.”

Harry nodded, sucking in a shaky breath through his mouth, to avoid clouding his mind with the euphoria of the omega’s scent. He was so embarrassed for acting like this, he couldn’t meet Louis’ eyes.

“Do you mind if I… Can I mark you, just a little bit? Just so-”

“Yeah, fine,” Louis allowed, waving his hands in front of himself, a little panicky. “Just, quickly, please.”

Harry nodded again, dazed, a little out of his mind. Instincts taking over. If they had to go out in public, at least he would make sure the omega smelled so much like him, no one would even think of approaching him. Not that that was possible with just a few licks, but he tried to tell himself that would be the case anyway.

He leant closer to Louis and pulled him in with a hand cupping the back of his neck. Louis stayed still and silent, appearing unresponsive to the way Harry manhandled his body closer, but he could smell the change in his scent, the arousal mixed with a hint of fear and a big swath of uncertainty.

Harry could deal with the uncertainty but he didn’t like the fear. He softened the hand on the back of his neck and licked below his jaw. Thick, wet stripes from throat to ear.

The only indication of Louis not being as composed as he acted was the fact that he was shaking. Not much, not noticeable. The slightest tremble beneath Harry’s fingers, one he fought to cover up, to hide. Harry kept licking, his alpha upset when it didn’t calm Louis, didn’t help him relax.

Frustrated, Harry growled before he could think better of it. Not much, just a little sound. He pulled at Louis’ windbreaker until it exposed the soft skin of his shoulder and licked there too, ignoring the way Louis halfheartedly tried to push him away.

His scent was strong by his neck, and it mixed so beautifully with Harry’s.

“Okay, okay- That’s enough.”

He licked one last stripe from his collarbone to the crest of his ear before pulling away.

Louis wouldn’t meet his eyes. He un-clicked his seatbelt, fumbling with it, and then opened the door and scrambled out. Harry followed quickly, not wanting him to be alone outside.

It was dark and cold and the air was sharp, refreshing. It cleared his head a little, not being in such a confined space with the scent of an omega he was about to mate overwhelming him. He rounded the car to get to Louis and found him rubbing at his neck with his palms like he was trying to wipe away Harry’s spit.

“No, wait- Don’t do that.” It was negating everything he did in the car, getting rid of his scent. “Please,” he added desperately.

Louis pulled his hand away and met Harry’s gaze, just a flicker of blue eyes looking gray beneath the streetlights and the night sky scattered with stars. “Sorry.”

Harry shook his head, wanting to pull his hair out. This was so frustrating, fighting with the inner, primal part of himself. He didn’t want to be like this. “It’s fine. Sorry-  _ I’m  _ sorry. I’m acting crazy.”

“‘S alright. Let’s just do this quickly.”

“Wait- please. Will you wear my jacket?”

“What?”

“It’s just. You’re cold. I can tell. And it’ll make me feel better. To know that you’re wearing something of mine.”

Louis shrugged, accepting Harry’s offered jacket and slipping it on over his windbreaker. It was big on him, not too much, but still noticeable, and Harry liked the look of it. Liked the look of an omega wearing his clothes.

“You good now?” Louis asked, as if he was slightly exasperated by his antics. But Harry didn’t miss the way he turned his nose to the collar, inhaling. It felt good to know he wasn’t the only one affected by the situation.

Louis led the way into the grocery store, Harry following close behind, right against his heels. His eyes kept flickering around, gaze catching on signs of movement around them, hyperaware. Looking for a threat, anything that might take his omega away from him before he got the chance to knot him.

“So I was thinking of making stir fry tonight,” Louis said as he grabbed a cart and began pushing it. It wasn’t a good one; it squeaked constantly and one of the front wheels was turned, making it veer to the right. Louis managed it anyways, with a forceful push. “And then beef stew for the rest of the week. That okay with you?”

That sounded really good. “More than okay.”

Was this what it was like to have someone take care of him? Why didn’t he spend his rut with someone more often, again?

They began with the produce section, walking through the aisles of fruits and vegetables. Harry had always thought Louis was bad at things like this, because their friends always joked about Louis failing at typical omega tasks, but he seemed just fine as he gathered all the vegetables he needed. Harry just kind of followed him around, not willing to be too far away.

They’d already been together for over an hour and they’d hardly said anything to each other. Louis was mostly silent, rooting through the green beans for the good ones, putting them into a plastic bag and tying it closed. Harry tried to imagine what it would be like when they returned home. What it would be like tomorrow, as well.

A shiver of anxiety coiled beneath his skin at the thought of losing control, his instincts taking over. The only time it ever happened was during his rut and he had always spent it alone, locked in his room, unable to make a fool of himself, unable to hurt anyone else. But tomorrow would be different.

There must have been a change in his scent because Louis turned around and asked, “Alright?” in a softer, gentler voice than usual. He was looking at him with big, worried eyes. They were bluer now, beneath the flourescent lights of the grocery store.

“Yeah, fine, sorry.”

“Okay.” Louis beckoned him closer and they headed down the aisles to the back wall where the array of meat was neatly arranged and refrigerated. He began searching through the selection of chicken breast for the stir fry. “So, we should probably talk about stuff.”

“I suppose.” No way in hell was Harry going to initiate it. He didn’t know where to begin; he had no idea how to negotiate an arrangement like this.

“I’m fine with marks since we’ll be on vacation afterwards, so. I don’t have to go into work. But no biting through skin, obviously. If you bond me, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he shook his head back and forth, frantic. “Yeah, of course, I would never- Never.”

“Good,” Louis said. Pushing the cart to the next aisle. “And how are you about marks?”

He wasn’t sure what type of marks the omega was planning on giving him—he had never been with someone who was interested in marking him as well. Bites? Scratches? Harry shrugged, “Sure. Is there anything off-limits, that I shouldn’t do?”

Louis pushed the cart down the cereal aisle, eyeing the Coco Pops on the top shelf. “No knotting my mouth.”

“Okay.” Harry could deal with that.

“And you can hold me down, but like, I have to be able to breathe.”

“Of course.”

“And… my shoulder, is, like, sore sometimes. From baseball.” Louis used to play, back in high school. He went to an omega boarding school. They didn’t know each other until college, long after he’d given up the sport due to his shoulder injury, the amount of times he had dislocated it, all of the physical therapy appointments, the pain that just wasn’t worth it.

“I’ll be gentle,” Harry assured. He didn’t know why he felt so certain about it, since no alpha in rut was ever gentle, but something inside him made him feel sure that he wouldn’t do anything to worsen his injury. “It’s the right one?”

“Yeah,” Louis confirmed, reaching up for the box of cereal. His fingers grazed the edge but he couldn’t grasp it even when he was on the tips of his toes.

Louis wasn’t necessarily short, especially by omega standards, and his presence itself was big enough to make up for any height he lacked physically, anyway. Harry couldn’t help but stand there, dumbfounded for a second, as he looked at Louis wearing his jacket, on his toes, reaching for a box of sugary cereal.

The curves of his body were on display and Harry only sort of felt bad for checking him out so unbridledly. He didn’t mean to be objectifying. He reasoned that he liked Louis as a person too, in addition to enjoying his body. But god, did he have a glorious ass.

Louis would punch him in the face if he knew what Harry was thinking right now.

Snapping into action, Harry crowded behind him because he could, settling his left hand on his waist. It felt good, like his hand belonged there. Louis stilled under his touch and Harry grabbed the box of cereal, handing it to him.

“Thanks,” he said belatedly. “Anything off-limits for you?”

“No,” he said, voice deep and hoarse, a lot rougher than usual. He cleared it awkwardly, trying to get back into his normal, innocuous headspace. God, there was something wrong with him. “Um, I don’t think so?”

He had been with his fair share of betas and omegas, never during his rut, but still. Nothing had ever come up.

“Anything I should know beforehand, in general, then?” Louis was still walking in front of him and it was clear he wasn’t  _ trying  _ to sway his hips in a way that was enticing, but it just happened, anyway.

“Well…” There  _ was  _ something but Harry didn’t know how to explain it. Not only was he embarrassed, but he didn’t have the words for it, the way the entire fear was founded on accounts told to him by other people.

He could never really remember much from his ruts, just a haze of jerking off and squeezing his knot to mimic an omega’s hole, the only way he could even pretend he was satisfied. He could recall the feeling of it more than anything, the dissatisfaction, the frustration, the deep need for something more.

“I know it’s your first time with someone else during rut, so. But if there’s anything out of the norm…”

He didn’t feel like having this conversation in the cereal aisle of the grocery store, but back at his apartment probably wouldn’t be any better. In fact, it might’ve been worse in the silence of his home, the inability to hide from his own words.

“You’re worried about being aggressive?” Louis prompted. “How come?”

“Just- I’ve. Well, people have told me things.”

“Hm. Who?”

“Family, roommates, whoever. Like, about getting really angry, or upset, and breaking things.”

Louis started pushing the cart again, even as the broken wheel tried to careen it into the shelf. He readjusted and kept going, Harry following behind him.

“That was while you were alone, though. Frustrated, probably. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“But how can you be sure?”

“Because you’re alpha. It’s your entire nature to take care of omegas. And besides, I know what I’m doing. I think you’re forgetting I’ve done this before.”

Harry didn’t like that at all, but he couldn’t argue with Louis’ logic. And it did make him feel a little better that Louis knew what he was getting himself into, even if that bit of comfort was overshadowed by rut-induced jealousy at the thought of Louis being with other alphas.

He  _ really  _ did not like that.

“Who was it?” The words slipped out before he could think better of them and he slapped his hand over his mouth, horrified by his own jealous self and his incredibly invasive question. “Shit, sorry, that was way out of line. You don’t have to answer that.”

Louis rolled his eyes at him but didn’t comment on the subject, even though Harry was silently hoping he would have pity on him and give him an answer, maybe say something like,  _ They don’t matter now, _ or  _ I only care about pleasing you. _

He didn’t say anything even remotely like the fantasies in Harry’s mind, of course. Instead, he suggested they head to the checkout. Harry was so relieved to finally be getting out of the grocery store, desperate to go home so he could have the omega all to himself. He had been on edge the entire time and it was exhausting glaring at everyone who so much as looked at Louis.

They were waiting in line for the only cashier on duty when Louis realized he forgot something.

“What is it?”

“Wine,” he answered. When he saw the look on Harry’s face, he added, “For me, not you, obviously. It helps.”

“Helps?”

“It’s better to be more relaxed. Now, stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Louis disappeared before Harry could argue, and then he was just left standing there with the cart full of food, feeling lost and distraught. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of the omega wandering the grocery store where other alphas could see and smell him, and even approach him.

He didn’t like the notion that Louis was alone and unprotected. He smelled like Harry but only faintly from having his neck licked and wearing his jacket; it was nothing compared to what he would smell like after their three days together. Licking his neck was only a topical precaution and it wasn’t enough to ward away anyone who was willing to try for a piece of him.

On top of it all, Harry was distressed that Louis felt he needed alcohol to relax the next few days. Harry didn’t want that at all. He wanted Louis to feel comfortable and even to have fun, best case scenario. He knew it was a long shot, with the way Louis seemed to dislike him still, as he always had, but sex was sex, right?

It had been five minutes and he still wasn’t back yet. Harry was next in line and he should be placing the items onto the conveyor belt to get ready to make his purchases, but the omega was nowhere to be found. In a split-second decision, with a sinking feeling in his stomach that something was wrong, Harry left the line.

He pushed the cart with him to the wine section, expecting to find Louis there, debating between two different brands or something. Louis had always been indecisive. It was something he would do.

When he got there, Harry saw what was happening. Louis  _ was  _ in the wine aisle, he wasn’t wrong about that. The thing was, he wasn’t alone.

He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it didn’t matter. A quiet, breathy growl slipped from his throat. Nick fucking Grimshaw was standing in front of Louis. His omega. Too close.

Way too close.

Before he could think about what he was doing, he stormed over there and wedged himself between Louis and Nick, seconds away from snarling. It felt like his entire body was on fire, alight with anger and possessiveness, the fear of another alpha encroaching on his territory.

“Woah, Harry-” Louis breathed. He smelled anxious, and Harry’s mind attributed it to the presence of Nick, the unwanted alpha, rather than the fact that Harry was teetering on the edge of going feral.

Nick raised his brows, laughing despite his surprise. “Got yourself a nice little omega, have you, Styles?” he taunted, clearly amused.

“Shut up, Nick,” Louis admonished. He tugged on the back of Harry’s t-shirt, fingers twisting into the fabric. Nervous. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Harry wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or Nick but it didn’t matter. If Nick stepped any closer, Harry would strike him. Or bite him. Or tackle him to the ground. Maybe all three.

“Harry, come on. Let’s just go.” He tugged harder on the back of Harry’s shirt, holding him back. “Let’s just go home.  _ Please. _ ”

The begging is what persuaded him, eventually. And the fact that Louis was clearly choosing him over Nick. Harry glanced back at him and saw his pleading eyes, and that was it.

He glared at Nick while herding Louis backwards, away from the alpha. He almost forgot the cart but Louis grabbed it at the last second and pulled it with them, all with Nick’s obnoxious, sarcastic cackling ringing through the air.

“God, Harry.”

“We need to go,” he grumbled. “Come on.”

Louis was practically running to keep up with him as Harry tugged him through the aisles, back to the checkout. If it was up to Harry, they would ditch the cart and leave without buying anything, even though it would negate the entire purpose of their trip. But for the sake of not upsetting Louis too much, Harry maneuvered them back in line where they waited for their turn at the checkout.

“What was he saying to you?” he asked, winding his arm around the omega’s waist even as he tried to smack it away.

Louis sighed and relinquished the fight, but he was still tense in Harry’s hold. “Nothing.”

“Tell me.” It wasn’t an order but it was close to one, the tone of his voice too severe for casual conversation but not enough to actually force the omega in his arms to say something.

Louis did anyway, persuaded by the roughness of his pitch. “Just asking about you, where you were. He could smell you on me. That’s all. It’s okay.”

Harry didn’t think the situation was okay at all but he was momentary comforted by the fact that his precautions had worked, the neck-licking and the fact that Louis was wearing his jacket. It distracted him enough to loosen his arms when Louis began to squirm. He loaded the conveyor belt with their items while Harry stood there, making himself big enough that no alpha would approach, too out of it to even consider helping Louis.

It was pure luck that their cashier was a beta, because any other gender would probably order them to leave at this point. Harry’s scent had become more and more potent from the agitation caused by Nick, and he could feel himself slowly slipping into rut. He would be good for a few more hours, but the slightest thing could set him off, and he was afraid of that.

Even though betas tended to not notice typical alpha/omega scents, ruts and heats made the scents robust enough to be noticeable even by a lesser-tuned nose. Harry was uncomfortable as he watched the beta inhale, nostrils flaring, as she scanned their items. He busied himself putting everything into the reusable bags he brought with him, trying to ignore it.

Louis was less willing to ignore it. He openly glared at the cashier and fidgeted impatiently, foot tapping on the floor.

When she finally handed them the last of their items and held out the receipt, Louis yanked it from her hand and griped, “For the love of god, at least be less obvious about it,” before storming out of the store.

Harry hastily apologized to her before running out after Louis, desperate not to let him out of his sight. The omega was halfway across the parking lot by then, pushing the cart as forcefully as he could when it kept careening to the right instead of rolling in a straight line.

“You alright?” he asked, finally having caught up, breathless not from running but from the smell of Louis, even in the cold, fresh air outside. Harry didn’t have the words to describe it, except for sweet and flowery, the best smell he had ever experienced in his entire life. At that moment, he wanted Louis so badly, he would’ve done anything to have him.

“I’m fine. God, that was annoying.”

Despite the winter weather, they had to keep the windows open on the ride home so Harry wouldn’t jump Louis’ bones and Louis wouldn’t drive off the road. Harry hung his head out the window, panting like a dog, as Louis complained about the cold and Harry’s “stench.”

By the time they got back home they were both annoyed, hungry, and horny. Louis would’ve denied the last one if Harry asked, but he could smell it, plain as day. The arousal strengthened his scent, made it impossible to ignore.

“Let me cook for you. Please,” Harry begged. His inner wolf was telling him to take care of the omega, to provide for him in any way possible.

Louis gave him a look that conveyed how done he was, too exasperated with Harry’s antics to even sigh. “No, we already agreed I would do it. You should go take a fucking shower and then relax.”

“But what if I want you to join me?”

“We’re not doing anything until you’re actually in rut, so don’t even try anything. Go shower.”

He trudged down the hallway to the bathroom, his wolf smiting at the rejection. Insecurity crept up from his core but he pushed it down, ignoring it, not too far gone yet to actually believe the self-doubt. It still made him feel weird, rebuffed, and a little abandoned. The longer he spent alone, the more consuming the feeling became, so he rushed his shower just to get back to the omega.

By the time he was out, barefoot, with dripping hair, Louis was almost done with dinner. He wandered into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of Louis and the concentration on his face as he stirred the vegetables and chicken in the pan.

Harry was much calmer after his shower, and significantly more comforted now that they were back home. The door was locked, the deadbolt in place, and he finally felt like he and Louis were safe.

“Hey,” Louis greeted, turning to him and not smiling, really, but almost. “You look better.”

Harry smirked a little, couldn’t help it. “Do I?”

“More relaxed,” Louis corrected. “Where d’you wanna eat?”

“The couch, okay with you?”

“Sounds good. Go get settled, it’ll be ready in a minute.”

Harry shrugged and did as he said, but only after grabbing a bottle of water for himself and pouring a glass of red for Louis.

He tried to pick a seat on the couch that would make Louis sit close to him, but there was no way for it to work. If he sat at one end, Louis would sit at the other; if he sat in the middle, Louis would sit on the loveseat. He debated lying on the couch and saying the loveseat was broken, so Louis would have no excuse but to sit on top of him.

He ended up, instead, in the loveseat.

Louis entered the living room, balancing two plates in his hands. The stir fry smelled wonderful and Harry’s nostrils flared.

“The couch is broken.”

“Fuck off,” Louis laughed, handing Harry his plate. “If you want me to sit next to you, you just have to ask.”

“Will you, then?”

Louis rolled his eyes and sat down, squeezing his bottom between Harry and the armrest. It made Harry snicker at him, until the omega swatted his arm and threatened to sit on the couch.

“Sorry, sorry. I love your ass.”

“Don’t objectify me.” Louis swatted him again, but he was laughing too.

A football game was on TV so Harry switched to that channel because it seemed like the safest thing to watch. Louis settled in against Harry’s side, propping up his plate on his thighs.

“This is really good, Lou.”

“Well don’t sound so fucking surprised.”

“No- I didn’t mean it like that. Well, I mean, we all remember your pancakes…”

“That was one time,” Louis argued, pointing his fork at Harry. “One time. I’m a great cook. Say it.”

“You’re a great cook,” Harry obliged, because he was so far gone for this omega, he would do anything.

“Good. Now please eat your dinner before it gets cold.”

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

“Feel free to wake me up when you need it.” He said it like he was offering a favor out of politeness, and didn’t actually want Harry to take him up on it.

Harry was still intimidated by him so he figured he could make it without bothering Louis until morning. It wouldn’t be too difficult, would it?

He was sorely mistaken.

By the time 2:00 AM rolled around, Harry was writhing in the sheets but still trying to hold back and not wake Louis, who was sleeping peacefully beside him.

It had been awkward, but sleeping in the same bed was the only option that made sense, given what was to come. Harry was more than willing to sleep on the floor if it made Louis uncomfortable to share a bed before his rut started, before Harry was more or less incoherent, but he just shrugged and patted the spot next to him, saying, “I don’t mind as long as you don’t.”

He rolled over, turning his back to Louis because just looking at him made it hard to not throw himself on top of him. He could wait a few hours and give Louis more time to sleep. He could, easily. No problem. It would just require him jacking off in the bathroom, or something, because there was no way he would be able to control himself if he was in the same room as Louis.

Being alpha meant taking care of the omega in his presence for the next few days, and taking care of him meant letting him sleep. Harry wanted to let him sleep, and take care of him, and do everything he could to make sure he was safe and happy.

It didn’t matter that the omega was Louis, someone who had expressed dislike and disinterest in Harry for years. Louis, who laughed when Harry made a fool of himself, and scoffed when Harry appeared likable. Louis, who seemed to have a personal vendetta against him.

Harry’s alpha didn’t mind the difference between Louis or any other omega. All it knew was secondary gender and the striking necessity to mark, mate, and protect what his inner wolf felt was rightfully his.

The thing about rut was that he was coherent for the first few hours, usually. He’d heard from others that he would probably be more coherent and aware while spending his rut with an omega, and he was looking forward to that. Kind of. He was afraid of being aware of what he was doing but not able to stop it.

He didn’t feel very dominant or commanding right now but it didn’t matter. Maybe it was for the best. Harry always knew he was a bad alpha, especially during his rut, but witnessing it himself was a completely different experience. He stumbled into the bathroom and struggled out of his clothes, avoiding his reflection.

A shower would be nice. A shower would be a good idea. He turned the water on a cooler temperature and stepped inside. It felt refreshing on his sweltering skin, washing the sweat away. His dick was hard and aching between his legs, hanging heavy, and his knot already felt sore even though he hadn’t done anything yet. He wasn’t excited for how sore he would be feeling in three days, although he figured Louis would probably end up feeling worse.

That didn’t make Harry very excited for what was to come. He didn’t want the omega to be sore and uncomfortable because of him. He was so afraid of hurting him.

The arousal built up in his core against his will and he put a hand on himself because he couldn’t stand it anymore. It felt more relieving than it did pleasurable, but that was alright. That was how these things went.

He stayed in the shower for as long as he could manage, stripping himself through three dissatisfying orgasms. It was fine. But he was so sick of the cold water pouring down his back so he turned it off and stumbled out, hastily drying himself off. He would just get all sweaty again in a second, so it didn’t really matter.

It was only 4:00 AM by then and he felt bad about it but he couldn’t wait any longer, knowing who was there in bed, all for him. Louis was still asleep, no sixth sense that woke him when Harry was in need, like alphas did during an omega’s heat.

Harry figured he was supposed to just take what he needed, but he wasn’t a somnophile and quite frankly didn’t want to traumatize Louis like that. He nudged him awake with a hand on his shoulder as he inhaled his scent. It was still diluted by sleep, not too potent yet, and Harry attributed that to be the reason why he was still able to think with some lucidity.

“Lou,” he whispered, nuzzling his nose against his neck because he couldn’t help it. His smell was all-encompassing and it was making Harry feel like he was losing control. “Louis.”

“Mmm,” he hummed into the sheets, curling a pillow towards his chest.

“Louis,” Harry repeated. He tapped his shoulder until he turned around a little to look him in the eyes.

“Already?”

He couldn’t stop himself from pulling the omega closer and burying his face in his neck again. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself, his mind clouding with the sharp, sweet scent. God, he wanted him so badly. “Yeah. Sorry…”

“’S okay. No need for apologies.” Louis flipped over onto his back and spread his legs as Harry worked on getting his t-shirt up over his head, maneuvering his arms through the holes as well. It was a little awkward and had Louis chuckling sleepily by the time it was off. “How d’you want me?”

“On your front. If that’s okay?”

Louis flipped over onto his stomach, mumbling something about “most polite alpha ever.” It didn’t sound like a compliment.

He didn’t protest as Harry nosed at his neck again as his hands blindly yanked down his joggers and boxers. He only pulled them down to his knees, before deciding that was good enough, and slipping a finger inside. Not to stretch him out, not even to touch him, really, but just because he could. Because the omega beneath him was his and he could slip his finger in whenever he pleased.

He added a few more until he had Louis moaning and writhing beneath him. He was quiet about it, not as mouthy as Harry had expected, given what he was like outside of the bedroom, but he made his pleasure clear with the way his fingers curled in the sheets like he had nothing else to hold onto. Like he didn’t know how else to convey what he was feeling.

He was such a good omega. So, so good.

“Up,” Harry commanded, pulling Louis’ hips up before he could do it himself. He didn’t even try to rise on his arms, just stayed there with his head turned, cheek pressed to the mattress, eyes closed as if he was trying to fall back asleep. But slick was leaking out of his hole, dripping down his thighs, slicking his skin and making it glimmer in the moonlight seeping in through the window. “Alright?”

“Just do it already,” the omega grunted, wiggling his ass and arching his lower back. His hole fluttered, the rim of it tight and pretty pink, covered in slick. He was trying to be nonchalant but Harry could tell just from the way he was fidgeting how badly he wanted it.

Harry didn’t need to be told twice. He thrust forward blindly a few times before his dick finally caught on his hole and slipped in. Stars of pleasure exploded in his vision and ecstasy coursed through his veins. The omega was warm and tight, an all-encompassing heat, and Harry was burning up.

He had never felt desire like this before, enough to cloud his entire mind, making it impossible to think of anything else but fucking in deeper, even as Louis whimpered and whined beneath him, asking for less and more all at the same time. Torn between pulling away to escape the overwhelming feeling, and pushing his ass backwards to chase each roll of Harry’s hips.

Harry wasn’t sure what happened but somehow a moment later he was balls deep with his tongue lathing all over the omega’s neck. The omega was crying a little bit. He couldn’t see it or hear it, but he could feel it, the gentle sobs that wracked his body.

After that, everything went hazy.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

L o u i s

 

So Harry in rut was…

Harry in rut was interesting.

Louis was shocked and overwhelmed by all the filth rumbling from his mouth, not in a bad way, but just a surprised way. Maybe pleased, a little bit, once he got over the fact that Harry, the alpha he had always been wary of, was probably the hottest dirty-talker he had ever witnessed.

Maybe Louis was still half asleep, but he was sure he had never experienced anything like it before.

The first time hurt, as it often did. Not badly, but enough. Alphas in rut tended to be selfish in the beginning, overcome with pure need, and Harry was no different. Once he had Louis how he wanted him, he pressed in and didn’t stop until he was satisfied. The pleasure was still there, and it was enough to keep Louis from crying out in pain or trying to escape. It encompassed him in warmth and welcome, like falling into bed after a long day of work.

Louis hadn’t meant to cry. He had never cried before during sex and he had always considered it to be something pathetic and embarrassing. He was so glad Harry seemed to be out of it, his eyes dark, his gaze focused on the place where he was entering Louis whose hole was stretched and sore already, that he either didn’t notice Louis was crying or he didn’t care.

That was, until he reached his hand out and wiped a few stray tears off his cheek.

So, the first time hurt, and Louis cried, and kept his eyes on the alarm clock on the nightstand, the green numbers glowing in the darkness. 4:17 AM. He wondered how long it would be until Harry shoved his knot in.

He was still whispering things in his ear, licking his neck and biting at the skin, then smoothing over the pain with his tongue and lips. The accumulation of saliva was, quite frankly, gross. But it soothed something primal inside him.

“I know it hurts, baby… Take it for me. I know you can do it… You’re doing so well.”

Simultaneously, he felt embarrassed that Harry has to talk him through it, and turned on by his encouragements. He was filled to the brim and shaking like a dog as the alpha on top of him pounded into him, the entire bed creaking, close to slamming into the wall but not quite there yet. With each thrust it felt like he pressed in even deeper than the last, enough to knock the wind out of him, rendering him breathless and gasping.

The thing was, it felt so good. So incredibly good.

Louis had been with alphas before but never like this. He and Harry may not have had any interpersonal connection before this but there was no denying they had chemistry. At the very least, their biology was compatible in a way that exploded stars beneath Louis’ skin, carrying fissures of pleasure through his bloodstream. It was almost too much to bear.

When it happened, the swell of Harry’s knot was scary and impossible. There was a point where Louis feared it would never stop swelling and they would both die a humiliating death. Just when it became too much to deal with, it popped into place, settling past the ring of muscle of his entrance, filling him deeply. Satisfying that primal part of him, that part of him that was always craving this in some way, that part of him that wanted nothing more than an alpha’s knot.

Usually, even while knotted, there was the feeling that the moment was fleeting and when it was over he and the alpha would go back to being friends or strangers or whatever they were before that moment. His wolf never liked that, the idea that the alpha he was with wasn’t his, that they weren’t meant to be.

For once, his inner omega was calm. Completely satisfied.

Harry was praising him over and over again, his hips settling against Louis’ ass. He flopped forward, landing on top of him, his entire body draped over him, limp and heavy.

Louis’ mother always said omegas had a sixth sense about these things.

“So good. So good for me. The best omega,” Harry kept whispering, and that settled something deep within him too. The stupid, useless need to be wanted and adequate. The desire to be desired by someone else, by an alpha.

He was still crying, stupidly, because it still hurt, though it was getting better. Pleasure was rolling over his body in waves. He hadn’t realized it, but he had come sometime earlier, probably when Harry’s knot was shoved inside him.

Harry’s skin was burning up, hot and feverish to the touch, sweat and slick making their bodies sticky. Still, even with all the weight and heat on top of him, Louis felt comfortable and safe. Pressed to the mattress and knowing the alpha above him would protect him no matter what, even if it only was because of instinct and nothing more.

“How long ‘s it usually last?” he asked, his voice more slurred than he wanted it to be. He had lost his composure and that was unusual. That didn’t happen to him.

“Dunno,” Harry grumbled, growling in his ear when Louis shifted too much, tugging on the tie that kept them trapped together. “A while.”

The growl was enough to keep Louis still, if the pain at moving wasn't incentive enough.

He was usually very good at this, having spent a handful of ruts with his alpha friends, enough to know what to do and how to deal with it, how to not get killed, how to have fun. But something about Harry threw him off his game.

Something about Harry turned Louis into an uncomposed mess of feelings he had no right to feel.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

The next few hours were much of the same confusing bliss, though Louis didn’t cry anymore, and the room was cast in early morning daylight.

Harry was all alpha as he took him from behind, pounding him into the mattress and knotting him before he could do anything but moan and come harder than he ever had in his life. Pleasure poured over him in waves, filling his entire being, no room for any other feeling.

Harry knotted him each time, filling him with so much come he honestly worried about the effectiveness of the birth control pill he took on a daily basis. Especially since Harry was insistent about not letting any come drip out, even after his knot deflate and they were detached. It was such an alpha thing to do, and Louis just had to lie there and let it happen, because god knows what he would’ve done if Louis shoved his hand away from between his legs.

After the fifth round, Louis was too hungry, thirsty, and tired to stand it anymore. He pushed Harry off of him and flipped over, sitting up. Harry tried to push him back down and shove it in him again, since he was already hard, despite his knot finally going down just a minute ago.

“Hang on, Harry,” Louis said, stern enough to catch his attention, but gentle enough to not make him worry. It was a fine line to balance on, but Louis figured he did pretty well. “Let’s take a break and eat, okay?”

“No.”

“Harry. Come on. I’m hungry.”

The alpha stared at him, looking torn between fucking him into the mattress again and actually doing what he was asking.

“And thirsty, and tired,” Louis added.

Harry grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back down to the bed, face first. He was gentle on his right shoulder, careful with it, and Louis knew that he remembered what they discussed yesterday, even through the haze of his rut.

Louis was more than a little annoyed Harry decided to ignore him, but he went with it because he didn’t really have a choice and this situation wasn’t that big of a deal to fight about it.

He was surprised, of course, when Harry flipped him over so he was lying on his back. They hadn’t done it like this before yet and Louis was becoming convinced Harry didn’t want to see his face while they fucked.

“Just a second,” Harry grunted, shoving his fingers in and swirling them around for no reason at all before replacing them with his cock. He pushed in and thrusted a few times, hiking Louis’ legs up around his waist. One hand was steady beside Louis’ head, to keep himself upright, and the other trailed all over his thighs and ass, caressing his skin.

A whine escaped him involuntarily when Harry pulled his right leg even higher, hooking it over his shoulder and splitting him open to enter even deeper.

“What the fuck, Harry,” he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tightly to fight off of the pleasure that was overcoming the annoyance of being ignored. “I said I was  _ hungry _ .”

“Hold on, hold on. Please. I’m sorry, I just need to-”

His knot swelled and slipped past his rim as they both moaned. Louis could feel the pulses of come filling him in waves just like the euphoria he was feeling. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he came the second Harry put his hand on his dick, hardly even touching it.

The alpha collapsed forward, on top of him. When Louis was turned the other way around it was bearable but right now it felt like all of Harry’s weight was resting on his stomach and his chest and he just couldn’t stand it. Before he could formulate a coherent complaint with actual words from his mouth, Harry sat up on his knees that had Louis chasing his hips with his own to avoid the tug and pull between them that would put them both in pain.

Harry hooked one arm around Louis’ back and the other around his neck, pulling him upright with him until they were both sitting, tangled together in an awkward way. Harry started to maneuver them off the bed and Louis gasped.

“What are you-”

“Kitchen.”

“Oh my god,” he groaned, unable to believe it. There was nothing to do but bury his face into Harry’s neck and cling on for dear life. “Please, please don’t drop me.  _ Please _ .”

“I won’t. I won’t.” He slipped his hands under Louis’ thighs, not letting go. “Never. I promise.”

“Harry…”

“Almost there. It’s okay.”

The walk to the kitchen was treacherous at best. Harry’s knot was nowhere near down by the time they got there and they had to cling to each other the whole time Harry heated up the stew in a bowl in the microwave with Louis clinging to his front. He understood why Harry had flipped him over before they started, so it would be possible to do this.

“I’ll take care of you. I will, I’ll… I will. Take care of you. I will,” Harry babbled as they stood in front of the microwave.

“Okay, okay Harry. I believe you.”

“No, really, omega, I- I will. I promise.”

“Okay, it’s okay,” Louis soothed, eyes widening at the realization that Harry needed reassurance and comforting. He curled one of his hands in his hair, sweaty and tangled from rolling around in bed. “I believe you. You’re doing so well, taking care of me so well.”

Harry made a happy noise and resumed licking Louis’ neck. He didn’t get close to sinking his teeth in, like some alphas did during rut which really scared Louis. But he did use his teeth at least a little bit, nibbling at the love bites he left behind. It felt good.

The microwave beeped and Harry was busy mauling his neck so Louis was the one who opened it up and set the steaming bowl of stew onto the countertop before it burned his hands. His original plan had been to pour it into two bowls but it seemed doubtful Harry would let him do that. Sharing would be fine.

Once the bowl had cooled off enough to hold it in his hands, Louis coaxed Harry to carry him over to the couch. Sitting down was a hardship, as was trying to get comfortable, but Harry was good about helping Louis find a position that didn’t put too much strain on either of them.

Originally they had two forks but Harry smacked the one out of Louis’ hand before he could get it near the bowl.

Louis stared, affronted. He was about to tell him off for not taking all of the food and not letting Louis have any, when Harry speared a piece of steak with his fork and shoved it in Louis’ mouth.

“Oh my god,” Louis gasped, once he had chewed the steak and swallowed it because he wasn’t going to waste a good piece of meat by spitting it out and ruining Harry’s nice, expensive couch. “You’re  _ not  _ feeding me.”

Harry just hummed around the fork which was in his own mouth now. He pulled it out and stabbed a few vegetables with it before offering them to Louis, brushing the forkfull against his closed lips.

Louis glared at him. “Harry-”

Saying that opened his mouth enough for Harry to sneak a few peas inside.

“Oh my god.”

It was pointless to argue with him. That was the only reason why Louis let the alpha feed him. Not at all because he enjoyed Harry doting on him.

No, definitely not.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

The day passed in a blur of sex and instincts. After they ate, they fucked on the couch at a slower pace than usual because the food made them languid. It was just as pleasurable as anything and Louis could feel his wolf settling inside him, happy and sated, when the alpha licked and kissed his neck while they were still tied.

Around noon, Louis couldn’t hold it any longer and demanded Harry let him go to the bathroom. Harry pouted about it until Louis let him accompany him. It wasn’t as weird as it should’ve been, to have an alpha hugging him from behind as he pissed in the toilet. Mostly because Harry was so out of it, he probably wouldn’t remember a thing.

“Love how you smell like me,” Harry kept mumbling into his neck, later when they were in bed again. The sheets were disgusting, sticky with come everywhere, and so was Louis’ skin. He felt filthy and desperately in need of a shower, but Harry seemed to love it. “Mine,” he kept saying. “ _ Mine _ .”

Most of the time, Louis’ wolf was content to just lie there and take whatever the alpha gave him. Having Harry on top of him meant he felt pliant and willing to follow orders just to please him, which then made Louis happy as a result. Being an omega was strange because he felt the most content when others were happy, instead of himself.

Not that he wasn’t happy with an alpha on top of him. Quite the contrary, actually. In the past year alone, Louis had helped three other alphas with their ruts and Harry was the fourth, and all of them had been enjoyable, but this… This was on a different level. And Louis wasn’t sure why.

Or, at least, he wasn’t ready to consider the true reasons why.

The next time the alpha’s knot popped and settled past his rim, tying them together, Louis reached back and pet his hair to coax him through his orgasm as Harry whimpered and growled possessively.

Alphas spending their ruts with friends or omegas they weren’t mated to in general tended to become insecure and unsettled. Louis was used to this and he was good at calming down alphas when they were feeling uncertain and troubled. There was usually only a little bit of guilt when he would lie and tell each alpha he was their omega, he belonged to them.

It was different with Harry. Louis whispered, “I’m yours. I’m yours, you have me. I’m yours,” over and over again and there was no guilt as it calmed Harry enough for him to happily pepper Louis’ face with kisses and scent him. It was okay. Everything was okay. Louis felt safe and comfortable and he was having fun.

_ Hah! _ Louis thought.  _ See, Zayn? I’m totally capable of spending rut with the alpha I’ve had a weird, uncomfortable crush on ever since he accidentally scent-marked me when we first met. You doubted me but I’m doing just fine. _

Harry turned them over so they were on their sides, spooning. His big hand fit over Louis’ belly like he was protecting it, and he let Louis rest his head on his other arm. The omega was pleased to find Harry’s bicep made a cozy pillow. The entire position fulfilled their primal needs.

He resumed nibbling at the crook of his shoulder, soothing the sharper bites with his tongue. Louis felt sleepy and satisfied as he scooched his butt backwards into the cradle of Harry’s hips. The movement made them both moan.

The calm moments like this were the ones that made Louis face the reality of his situation. It was easier to ignore the mess he was in when Harry was fucking him into oblivion, but when they were sedately cuddling he had no choice but to let his mind wander.

He had been inside Harry’s home for almost an entire twenty-four hours now and he still wasn’t certain why he agreed to help him with his rut in the first place. It wouldn’t have been a big deal for Harry to spend his rut alone and miss the first two days of vacation, even if it would upset Niall.

Deep down Louis knew his motives had more to do with the fact that Harry was alpha and Louis had always wanted him, in one capacity or another. It was no question that Harry was incredibly attractive—inside and out. Louis was reluctant to agree with the former, that Harry wasn’t just a dumb alpha with a big knot, but rather someone who was genuinely interesting and kind.

Sighing, Louis settled further in Harry’s hold. Harry was still licking him and it had the potential to be annoying, but instead it was just soothing. His inner wolf was appeased.

Maybe Louis offered to help Harry because he couldn’t stand the thought of the alpha spending his rut alone. Worse, maybe he offered because he was  _ sickened  _ by the thought of Harry finding some other pretty omega to help him through it, one of his many admirers, the omegas that followed him around like he was their cult leader.

Pining after Harry made Louis feel stupid since he knew nothing would ever happen between them. Harry had never shown any interest in him or even acknowledged that he was omega, except for the day they met when he accidentally scent-marked him. Louis wasn’t about to embarrass himself any further by following him around like a lost puppy. Thus he tried to play it as cool as possible when offering to help him through his rut.

Being here now sent sharp pain through his heart like pinpricks of a needle into the pericardium because it gave him a taste of what he would never have.

Not that it mattered, Louis tried to tell himself. He would just enjoy himself now, while he could, and then his life would go back to normal. It would be okay.

To clear his mind of the thoughts that saddened him, Louis focused on his physical surroundings. The sheets beneath him had a thread-count much higher than the sheets in his own bed at home, and they felt smooth and soft on his skin. The pillows were fluffy and Harry was warm behind him and he could feel the ebb and flow of the alpha’s breaths against his back.

The room was cast in afternoon light, due to the large windows and the french doors that led out to the balcony. Harry had a very nice apartment and Louis was envious of it.

He shared a place with Zayn and it was cramped and dingy. The kitchen appliances were a few decades older than he was, there was only one bedroom which meant he and Zayn shared it with beds on opposite sides of the room, and the single shower had terrible water pressure. Among other things that made it significantly worse than Harry’s place.

Harry lived alone because he was alpha and alphas tended to be territorial. Omegas lived with roommates, typically betas, for protection. It wasn’t safe for him to live alone, supposedly, and Louis kind of really resented that, but he  _ did  _ enjoy living with Zayn. Even if he could be annoying at times and their entire apartment constantly smelled like cigarette smoke because they both enabled each other’s bad habits.

Harry seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. Louis had discovered a while ago that Harry was a snorer, and he made fun of him for it every chance he got, though Harry tended to just shrug it off or ignore Louis. As hard as the omega tried, he could never really get under his skin. Harry was impervious to Louis’ attempts to defame his character in front of the others. So he just snored on, his loud, sniffling breaths raising the hairs on the back of Louis’ neck.

Louis hugged Harry’s arm a little closer to his chest and closed his eyes again, feeling sleep about to take over. He was exhausted from a day of intense, animalistic sex and Harry’s rut was only a third of the way through.

He had just fallen asleep when a screeching alarm startled them both. Louis flinched at the sound and Harry’s arms tightened around him instinctively. The beeping didn’t go away.

Harry groaned, groggy from sleep.

“Oh, shit,” Louis gasped. “I think that’s the fire alarm.”

He sat up suddenly and was too keyed up to be relieved about the fact that Harry’s knot had gone down and they could detach. The alpha tried to pull him back down to the sheets but Louis swatted him away. The shrill buzzing sound refused to relent.

Louis whimpered, realizing what this meant. They had to evacuate the building, but Harry was in rut! They couldn’t go outside. What the hell were they supposed to do?

“C’mon, c’mon, we’ve got to go,” he cried, tugging on Harry’s arm. “It’s the fire alarm, we have to go.”

“No,” Harry growled. His eyes were dark and unclear; he wasn’t any more lucid than he was an hour ago when he was fucking Louis into the mattress. He tugged Louis towards him again and bit at his neck like he was nervous about the ear-splitting alarm ringing through the air. “ _ Mine _ ,” he said, as if it had anything to do with the situation. As if it mattered. “You’re mine.”

Either it was just a drill or there was a fire in the building and they were going to die. Louis yanked himself out of Harry’s grasp and stumbled across the room to find some sort of clothing to cover themselves. He retrieved random articles from the floor and dressed himself, much to Harry’s protest.

“Harry, for the love of god, please.  _ Please  _ cooperate,” he begged, so stressed he was on the verge of tears. A few slipped out, salty warm wetness dripped down his cheeks, and he brushed them away with his shaking hand. “You have to put these clothes on. We have to go.”

He helped Harry into the shirt and the pants and as soon as he was decent enough to go outside, Louis tried pulling him to the door. Harry didn’t want to go. It was instinct to be desperate to stay in his home, the safe place he had made for himself and Louis to mate during his rut. The world was dangerous and threatening to Louis’ safety specifically and Harry’s inner wolf probably thought someone would snatch him away.

But that would never happen in this day and age, not when everyone within a mile radius could smell the thick scent of rut on both of them.

Louis had to get him outside.

He kissed the alpha to appease him, grabbed his face and looked imploringly into his eyes. “There might be a fire, Harry. It’s not safe to stay here. We have to go. Please. We have to go.”

The alpha looked torn between locking Louis away in the closet so he wouldn’t be able to leave, and following what he was asking of him. Louis kissed him again and purposefully rubbed himself against Harry’s shoulder so their scents would rub off on each other.

That, above all else, seemed to appease the alpha. Just a little bit. Just enough. He snapped into action, realizing they were in danger, and pulled Louis out of the apartment with a vice-grip on his wrist.

Louis scrambled beside him to keep up with his quick pace. They stumbled down four flights of stairs and made it outside in a blur.

Everyone else from the apartment building was already standing outside, congregated on the other side of the street because it was dangerous to stay too close to the building. Fire trucks were lined up by the sidewalk and everything was chaos.

Harry was forcing Louis by his side in a way that would be painful if adrenaline wasn’t running through his veins. He caged him in tight enough to bruise as his eyes scanned their surroundings for threats.

Louis knew they both smelled and looked terrified and if they didn’t move to a more private location, they were going to cause a scene. Harry began herding him into a shaded alley between buildings and for a moment it felt like they were on the same page, even though Harry was doing it to protect Louis from alphas who might try to snatch him.

Louis was shaking with fear but Harry was worse; his eyes were wild and he was slipping into a feral state. The omega had no idea what would happen the longer they stayed out here, and he also had no idea what to do to fix the problem. The stress ate away at his heart and he slid down against the grimy brick wall, sinking to the ground.

Harry followed him, crouching over him to shield him from the world. He growled at the slightest movement from Louis or anything in his peripheral vision.

“Come here,” Louis gasped, tugging the alpha closer to him.

He wrapped him in an awkward hug given their position on the ground and buried his face in Harry’s chest, tucking his nose into the t-shirt he had hastily pulled over his head. The fabric held the thick, cloying scent of their combined arousal, and it probably had more than a few bodily fluids on it. But the strong smell comforted Louis, making it easier for him to think straight.

“It’s okay,” he said, to convince Harry  _ and  _ himself.

He had no idea what they were going to do if they would have to stay out here for more than a few minutes. The fire trucks on the street weren’t a good sign, indicating it was more than just a drill. Louis desperately hoped someone had accidentally pulled the fire alarm, or burned a bag of popcorn or something, but he knew it would take forever for the firefighters to clear the building.

“It’s okay,” he repeated, nuzzling closer to Harry’s chest and trying to release calming pheromones. “We’ll be alright. No one’s going to… no one’s going to hurt us. We’re okay here.”

The alpha whimpered and held him tighter, clutching at his back, fingers twisting in the material of the hoodie he threw on at the last second. It was Harry’s, one he had already worn and discarded on the floor, and it smelled heavily of him.

His heart was still thudding in his chest but he tried to stay calm for Harry’s sake. He was the lucid one here, and he had a responsibility to make sure neither of them got into trouble.

Louis had heard of horror stories of people getting interrupted during heat or rut and having to leave for whatever reason. But he had never thought it would ever happen to him. And now that he was here he had no idea what to do except hold Harry close and try to stop him from doing something dangerous.

The alpha was frightened and distressed and Louis was in a way too, but it hurt more to see how scared and frantic Harry seemed. There was nothing to do about the situation, though, so he held him close and whispered in his ear to calm him down.

“We’ll be okay. Just a little bit longer,” Louis lied, curling his fingers into Harry’s hair, scratching with his nails because he knew the sensation was soothing. He rubbed his cheek against Harry’s neck like he was scent-marking him. “Are you alright?”

Harry nodded. He began fumbling with the front of his pants, which were inside out. Louis was confused before he realized: Harry was going to pull his dick out. To do something stupid like try to claim him by coming on him and rubbing it into his skin. Or worse, trying to knot him.

“No, no, please, you can’t do that,” Louis begged, trying to hold onto the alpha’s hands before he could undress himself.

He growled and batted Louis’ hands away and Louis started laughing because it was just so ridiculous. He knew Harry’s inner wolf was restless and distressed, and he felt bad about that.

“Calm down, love. It’s okay. I smell so much like you, no one would even think of approaching me,” Louis told him, rubbing his back and stroking his hair, eyes still on Harry’s hands to make sure he wasn’t going to do something that would risk both of them getting arrested. They were already breaking the law by being out in public when Harry was in rut. “It’s alright. Just a bit inconvenient, but alright. As soon as we’re allowed back inside, you can have me any way you want.”

Harry wasn’t exactly relaxing, but it was okay, because at least he wasn’t trying to actively knot Louis in a dark alley. He favored gripping Louis’ hips instead, eyeing the place where his fingers wrapped around his waist, big hands on him. Louis just rolled his eyes at his fascination and did what he could to keep the alpha relaxed.

Harry’s protective quirks were endearing and Louis was coming to terms with this fact. It was easier to accept this now, when he was essentially alone due to the alpha’s incoherence.

But Louis knew that everything would turn to shit in a few days. How was he supposed to go back to disliking Harry after this? How was he supposed to go back to Harry avoiding him at any given chance, never able to look him in the eye?

Louis knew Harry didn’t like him at all, had no interest in him, pretended he wasn’t even omega. He was polite enough to cover it up when they happened to be near each other but Louis could see the way he tensed every time Louis entered the room, nostrils flaring like his scent was just too repulsive to bear.

It made Louis feel sick in a stupid way, knowing Harry was revolted by him. As a progressive, independent omega, Louis rarely cared what others thought of him, but for some idiotic reason, it was different with Harry. Louis had never before been so desperate for an alpha’s approval yet here he was, falling at Harry’s feet to please him.

The only logical reason was that his excessive need for validation was due to biology alone, the simple physical attraction of scents and pheromones and complimentary genders. And biological attraction was illogical at best. There was no reasoning behind it, aside from producing healthy pups. Procreating to the benefit of evolution.

Louis had no idea what he would do after Harry’s rut ended. They had a day before their departure, which meant they would probably stay in Harry’s apartment, sleeping and eating. Maybe the alpha would be too exhausted to hold a real conversation, so they could put it off for even longer.

But it was inevitable, that they would need to talk about this sometime soon. They could put it off for hours or even days, but eventually Louis’ impeding attraction to Harry would become too unbearable and they would need to come up with a solution. Maybe Louis would stop going out with the guys as much, so they wouldn’t see each other in person very often. Or maybe Harry would find a nice omega to bond so his scent wouldn’t be so overpowering, if that was even possible.

Time passed and Harry kept nuzzling into Louis’ neck, licking at the skin, using his saliva as a way to mark the omega with his scent. Louis held him there, rubbing his back with one hand and curling his fingers into his hair with the other. Harry’s feral wolf was appeased and back to normal despite the fact that they were still trapped in the alley with nowhere to go.

It was an hour later when an authority figure gave the okay and people began filing back into the building. The vantage point wasn’t clear from their hiding spot in the alley but Louis could see the crowd diminishing, people walking past, noses twitching at the scent of an alpha in rut nearby. Harry was oblivious to all of this, still growling quietly in Louis’ ear and nibbling at his neck.

Louis waited until almost everyone was inside, before he caressed Harry’s cheek to get his attention. It didn’t work, really, because he just bit harder at the omega’s neck and refused to pull away.

“Harry. Harry. C’mon.” He still wasn’t listening. Louis tried again, repeating his name out loud.

Usually Louis avoided saying his name, avoided speaking to him in general, so it felt weird. Intimate. Not that Harry was listening, so the moment was fairly one-sided, but still.

“Harry. Alpha-”

Oh shit. Louis did not mean to say that. It just slipped out without any forethought.

Louis had never called any alpha by a true title like that before. Never. Well, unless he was fucking around with his friends, but even then, it was weird. He had never said that before and  _ meant  _ it. Good god.

Heart pounding in his chest, he looked up nervously and met the alpha’s eyes. He was bewildered to see them staring back at him, clear and coherent. Not cloudy like they had been the entirety of his rut.

“I think we can go back now,” Louis choked out, his voice shaky.

“Okay,” Harry breathed, standing up and pulling Louis with him, pinning his body against the brick wall before he could even think. “Okay,” he repeated, nuzzling into Louis’ neck and pushing their hips together. The bulge in the front of his pants was obnoxious and Louis knew it must’ve been aching. “Okay.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Louis waited until Harry let him go and then he grabbed his hand to lead him back inside. It was kind of funny how the alpha followed him mindlessly, happy to do what Louis wanted. Trusting him. It was nice and Louis wanted to praise him but he wasn’t sure how to do it without sounding pejorative or condescending.

Someone was waiting for the elevator and people were already giving them dirty looks, so Louis decided the stairs would be their best bet.

As he was maneuvering them towards the stairs, a random alpha across the lobby growled loud enough to make Louis stop in submission, unable to help it. His feet were glued to the spot.

Louis knew he was emitting smells of arousal, which wasn’t exactly decent, but that didn’t mean this alpha had any right to growl at him like that. He was about to tell him off and rant about proper etiquette for situations like this. But then he realized Harry wasn’t by his side anymore.

“Oh, shit,” Louis said, out loud this time.

His stupid omega instincts froze him to the spot as he watched Harry cross the room to confront the alpha that had growled at him. Then he realized what was about to happen and he snapped into action.

Omegas were always playing the role of peacekeeper. It was goddamn annoying.

“Harry, Harry please,” he urged, grabbing at his arm only to be shrugged off like he was nothing. “Harry, good god, you are not starting a fight in the lobby of your apartment building!”

The two alphas were growling and circling around each other, like the beginning of a WWE fight. It was embarrassing. Louis couldn’t believe this was his life. He was particularly worried because the alpha he had never met before had at least fifty pounds on Harry. He was a big, hulking mass of muscle. But Harry was the one in rut, which gave him an edge.

Louis ran up to Harry one last time, knowing exactly what this would mean. An omega standing behind an alpha in a fight meant showing support and choosing a side. They had all been taught in school that it was a bad idea to choose sides because it meant one party feeling insecure and irate, a bad combination for a feral alpha. But Louis saw no solution to this except to show Harry he was the one he cared for, so he could convince him to run upstairs with him.

“Harry,” Louis pleaded, his voice wavering like he was about to cry. It had been a long day, a very long day. All he wanted to do was curl up in bed with a warm body next to him, protecting him.

Nothing like that would ever happen if he didn’t do something about this stupid alpha fight. Louis yanked on the back of Harry’s shirt like he did yesterday with him and Nick at the grocery store. It didn’t snap Harry out of the trance he was in, like he had hoped. And the other alpha was still growling, raising his arm like he was going to strike.

So, he had to do more than that. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Louis hugged Harry from behind as best as he could and pressed his face between his shoulder blades. This time, with intent, even though it hurt him to capitulate, he said, “Please, Alpha.”

It worked like a charm. Well, kind of. The other alpha was still growling but Louis managed to coax Harry away. Harry seemed more insistent on protecting Louis anyway, so they were both anxious to get out of there. They ran up the stairs until Louis was out of breath and Harry had to pull him the rest of the way, all the way down the hall to his apartment.

Harry was the one who fastened all the locks on the door, sliding the deadbolt across last. It made them both feel safe, Louis knew, from the way the alpha’s shoulders hunched in relief once he finished the locks. He leant against the door and sighed.

Then his eyes met Louis’.

It was the third “oh, shit” moment of the day.

Louis didn’t have any time to react before the alpha was on top of him, pushing him to the floor. He landed hard on his ass and it knocked the wind out of him, creating the scary feeling of not being able to breathe. Before he knew it, hands grasped around his waist and flipped him over so his knees hit the hard floor.

He wasn’t necessarily against this happening, since he knew it would appease Harry’s wolf, but he also didn’t fancy being fucked into the floor. It already hurt and they hadn’t even started yet. Harry placed his palm on Louis’ upper back and pushed down hard, until his cheek rested against the ground. And then came the realization that Harry had manhandled him into a presenting position. How embarrassing.

Louis decided to try out the knew trick he learned today. He stopped wiggling and said as clearly as he could, “Alpha? I’m uncomfortable.”

Harry grunted but didn’t say anything. He yanked Louis’ pants down and fumbled with his own.

“Alpha, please can we move to the couch? Or the bed?”

He didn’t listen. Apparently the “referring to him with a title” thing only worked sometimes. Louis sighed and wiggled his ass, impatient and teasing. Might as well get this over with.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

He soon became very familiar with the hardwood floor beneath him.

Harry fucked him so hard his knees buckled and he slumped forward, lying down. When the alpha finished, he flopped on top of Louis and began mumbling nonsense against the back of his neck.

It took Louis at least ten minutes to realize he was saying  _ I’m sorry. _

Why was he apologizing? For not listening to Louis when he asked to move to a softer surface? For almost getting into a fight with a stranger? For something else entirely?

It didn’t matter. Louis squirmed against him, agitating their tie and making them groan with pleasure and a hint of pain. He stopped moving and tried not to shiver at the feeling of humid breath against his skin, sending tingles ricocheting through his body.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I’m-”

“Hey, hey. It’s okay.” He cringed at his own words, which were hardly comforting. But to be fair, having absolutely no idea what to say didn’t make it very easy. During the few ruts he spent with alphas, all he had to do was tell them how good he felt and how much he wanted their knot. Then the alpha would knot and come and pass out and that was that. When they woke up again, they would be ready for the next round. There wasn’t a lot of talking.

Louis didn’t know what to do with this. Harry was strange. In a good way. It made the omega’s heart hurt.

He wasn’t alone in that regard. The number of omegas who swooned over him was astronomical. Louis had a bad choice of a crush. He had no chance with him. Even if they weren’t enemies, he wouldn’t have had a chance.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Can we move to the couch?” Louis suggested. His sweats were caught around his knees and it made it difficult to move his legs. He was also being crushed under the alpha’s weight. He added, “You’re heavy,” hoping it would make a difference.

Harry grunted and heaved them up, wrapping his arms around Louis’ tummy to keep them attached. Louis squeaked in surprise at first but tried to calm down because was getting what he wanted, afterall.

It was incredibly awkward to get situated on the couch, but they ended up spooning, with Louis facing the cushions and Harry draped over his body. The position should’ve felt hot and oppressive, yet he couldn’t muster up the strength to feel uncomfortable. He only felt protected.

The rest of the day passed with them fucking on the couch and dozing off afterwards. Louis was exhausted but he didn’t have the heart to deny Harry, not today at least.

The alpha would become more coherent after they were knotted and after he made sure Louis had gotten off at least two times per session. Then his eyes would clear a little and they’d be able to have normal conversations.

It was when the sun was setting, casting the living room in golden light, that he finally asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Mm, yeah.” He was busy gnawing on Louis’ shoulder.

“Let’s get up and go to the kitchen, then. I can heat up your stew. C’mon.”

It was a miracle that he let go of him enough to let him stand up. Louis tried to pull his pants up but Harry wouldn’t let him. He rolled his eyes and waddled to the kitchen, telling himself it was because of the sweats around his knees and not the fact that his ass was sore. Like, really sore.

Harry trailed close behind him, fingers brushing against his hip. He inhaled deeply to catch their mixed scent, which smelled more alluring than Louis cared to admit. If he could’ve, he would’ve bottled it up to save for times when they weren’t together. Maybe for his next heat, Louis could ask Harry to borrow one of his worn t-shirts or something. As if that wasn’t the most humiliating thing ever. But he figured, after this, Harry would owe him.

“You’re so good to me,” he whispered in Louis ear, pressing their bodies together again. Unlike Louis, Harry was completely naked, having stripped all his clothes off a few hours ago when he became overheated and worked up from nailing Louis into the couch the first time.

“I’m glad,” Louis huffed. His hole was getting slick even though he really didn’t want to have sex right now. He concentrated on pushing the buttons of the microwave rather than the big alpha knot bumping against his backside.

“So good. So good to me.” He tried to slip a finger in but Louis swatted his hand away, so he settled for kissing his shoulders. “The perfect little omega.”

At the word  _ little _ , Louis blushed with embarrassment and something else. He swatted the alpha’s wandering hands away again and said, “Don’t belittle me.”

“‘M not,” he whined, resting his chin on Louis’ shoulder. They both kept their eyes on the bowl of stew spinning around in the microwave. “You’re so perfect to me. Perfect for me.”

Even though it was just his rut speaking, Louis’ heart skipped a beat. Butterflies erupted in his stomach. Luckily, the timer beeped and the food was done. He removed it with a towel because the bowl was burning hot, and handed it to Harry with a spoon.

“Love you so much,” Harry groaned before kissing him hard, tongue and everything.

Louis was stunned. He detached himself quickly and pulled back as much as he could in the small space, caged in against the countertop. He slipped under Harry’s arm and wandered to the dining room. Just to get away, even though he knew the alpha would follow him regardless.

He couldn’t deal with Harry saying things like that to him. Especially when he didn’t mean it. Especially then.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just wanna sit down.”

Harry frowned, concerned. “We should- I should draw you a bath. Or. Massage?”

Louis waved him off again. “It’s okay. I’m fine. We should shower after this, though. And will you please drink some water?”

The alpha did as he was told. In between bites of stew, he said, “Want you on my lap.”

“Later. If you’re good.”

Harry pouted, whining. He could’ve used his alpha voice to order the omega over there, but he didn’t. Louis appreciated that. So he decided to reward him.

He ate the rest of his meal and then rounded the table to clamber onto Harry’s lap. It wasn’t very graceful at all, but Harry seemed happy anyway, with a lapful of omega. Warm and pliant. Happy to be here.

“Will you let me ride you later?”

“Hm.”

“Hm?”

“No.”

Louis flicked him in the chest. Lightly. “Why not?”

“Belong under me.”

“Hey, excuse me. That’s dangerously close to oppressive language, mister.”

“Fine. I like you under me.”

“Bet you’d like it if I rode you, too.”

“No.”

“You wouldn’t like it?” Louis teased. He knew it was just Harry’s inner wolf making him say it, the instinct that preferred the typical mating position which was better for insemination, which was the whole point of rut.

Harry growled playfully and smacked Louis’ butt. Louis glared at him and pretended to get off his lap. Which then made him grip his wrist and apologize to keep him there, still smirking. Smug bastard.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

The only way to get Harry in the shower was to go in with him. But the water washed most of Louis’ slick away, which made the floor slippery, and the confined space elevated their combined scent until they were both dizzy with it.

Harry was the one who washed them both. He yanked the loofa out of Louis’ hand and squirted some body wash on it, the kind that smelled like oranges and pomegranates. It was a bit distressing to wash away their natural scents, but if the hard aching thing between Harry’s legs was any indication, they would fix that problem soon enough.

Harry managed to control himself for long enough to carefully wash Louis’ body and then hastily scrub his own. To be fair, he did get a bit distracted letting soap spuds drip between Louis’ cheeks, and he tried to finger him again. Louis let it happen for a minute or two but only because it felt so good and he was so overcome with the heady scent of alpha filling the small space. He pulled Harry’s fingers out after a little bit, kissing him to assuage him.

“Later,” he promised. It was fun to have the alpha wrapped around his little finger.

He ended up sucking him off in the shower, after they both shampooed and conditioned their hair. Harry was insistent about giving Louis a scalp massage and it felt amazing. In thanks, Louis sunk to his knees and went to work with his mouth.

It was nerve-wracking the whole time. He worried about Harry knotting his mouth even though he told him not to, when they were discussing the terms and conditions yesterday.

But Harry was very careful about it. He held his knot back with his hand and warned Louis when he was close. He pulled out and came on his face when Louis said it was okay. Then he had to wash himself again even when Harry protested, saying he liked him like that.

When Louis was on his knees staring up, he realized how beautiful Harry looked. With the water cascading down his back, his wet hair dripping in his face, green eyes dark with lust… He was something special.

Louis wondered how he ended up spending rut with him. Harry could have any omega he wanted and yet he was insecure enough about his own instincts to want to spend it alone. And even though he didn’t argue when Louis offered, Louis could tell he was uncomfortable about it.

He felt bad for cornering Harry into this, when he made it clear how little he liked Louis. Louis berated his own instincts for letting jealousy rule him. He just couldn’t stand the thought of Harry spending rut alone, let alone with another omega.

As Harry helped him up from the shower floor and took his smaller omega dick in his hands, stroking him roughly, Louis leant against Harry’s shoulder because he felt weak in the knees. He gasped against his skin at each pull, at each flick of his thumb over the sensitive tip.

Being a male omega was weird because a lot of alphas didn’t like the idea of him having a dick, since technically he could impregnate other omegas and female betas if he wanted to. Thus a lot of alphas tended to ignore his dick, like it was a annoyance rather than a gift. So any attention to it given by someone else was always a special feeling. And no one had ever touched him before like Harry was doing right now.

Louis couldn’t help but think of the alpha a few days ago at the bowling alley. How infuriatingly, depressingly hot he looked, even with a pizza sauce stain on his white t-shirt.

And then there was the new knowledge that Harry’s rut had been triggered early by some random omega on a night out. Jealousy burned in Louis even though he had no idea who this omega was. He hated that ugliness in him, that envy. He didn’t want to be like this. But he couldn’t help it.

“So lovely,” Harry was crooning into his ear. He seemed more clear-headed than usual but when Louis glanced up, his eyes were dark. “So beautiful and submissive. So perfect and good. Would do anything for an alpha knot, wouldn’t you? Just wanna be stuffed full.”

Louis’ eyes rolled back slightly, so he shut them and bit Harry’s shoulder both because he didn’t agree with what he was saying and because he needed some way to relieve the tension in his body. He was on the brink of shattering with pleasure and Harry was carrying him right to the edge.

“Not submissive,” he argued weakly, but everything about him in this moment contradicted his words.

Harry laughed a little. It wasn’t cruel. One of his big hands was pressing against his upper back, holding him upright because god knows his legs weren’t doing their job. But he slipped the hand down his spine, teasing a finger between his cheeks, rubbing it against his hole.

Louis whimpered against his will, trying hard to contain the sound but it slipped out anyway. He hated himself sometimes, for stupid things like this. For letting himself be vulnerable in front of someone like Harry.

“Let go, Louis. You can. Let go for me.”

The sound of his name coated in Harry’s thick, deep drawl was too much. It was the first time Harry called him that all day and he wasn’t sure how to deal with it. The name  _ omega  _ made it easy for him to detach and distance himself but it was impossible with his real name.

_ Let go. _ What a tempting command.

He listened, and did as his alpha said.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

“You’re really alright?” The concern in Zayn’s voice was apparent even over the phone. He liked to pretend to be apathetic, with his quiet, casual words, but Louis knew him well enough to be aware of his concern.

“I’m fine. I promise. I mean, it’s hard, given the situation. But, you know.” The situation being Louis’ massively dumb crush on Harry, despite Harry hating him.

Louis was sitting on the bay window of Harry’s bedroom, curled up on the small, comfy cushion, wearing cozy, oversized clothes. Harry’s clothes. A sweater and pajama pants. Barefoot. He leant against the window, resting his head against it too, and the cold seeping in through the glass cleared his mind. Made it easier to think.

“He’s good to you, then?”

Louis pressed his phone to his ear harder. He couldn’t look away from where Harry was passed out in bed, on top of the messy sheets, completely naked. Their entire time together had been nothing but the alpha’s pale skin all on display, beautiful and irresistible. He was such an English rose, with his dark hair and porcelain skin. Green eyes. Long lashes. Sharp jaw.

“Yeah, definitely. He’s… Zayn, he’s really sweet. I dunno. Just, nice, I guess.”

“And you’re having fun?”

“Yeah. Yeah…”

Silence filled both ends of the line, and Louis sat there thinking for a while. Zayn was a good friend to talk to in situations like this because he knew what to say and when to say it, but most importantly, he knew when to stay quiet.

“I think… Zayn, I think… I mean. You know those stories about omegas knowing when they’ve found..?” As hard as he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. But he knew Zayn knew what he was talking about.

“Yeah, babes, I do.”

All the lore about omegas knowing when they found “the one,” is what he meant. It was a common belief, that omegas had a special power or sense to know when they were with their true mate. Even Louis’ own mother, an omega mated to an alpha, believed it to be true.

He had never asked her about it before, too disgusted by the idea of being made for someone, of  _ belonging  _ to someone.

“I think… I don’t know what I think.” _ I think it’s him.  _ He couldn’t say it out loud. “But he hates me, so. I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

Zayn sighed, obviously frustrated. This argument was nothing new. “He doesn’t hate you.”

“He dislikes me, then.”

“He doesn’t. He’s just awkward about it. Awkward around you.”

“Because he h-” he stopped himself. “Dislikes me.”

“No. Because he’s attracted to you, and he’s intimidated by you. Quite frankly he’s afraid you’ll rip his head off if he tries to make a move. So he instead he stares at you from afar when you aren’t looking. It’s creepy.”

“Stop making things up, Z,” Louis huffed. That idea was nothing new either, the notion that Louis was intimidating and tended to scare off people who didn’t know him very well. But the fact that Harry might be  _ attracted  _ to him was just preposterous. Scared of him? Maybe. But attracted to him? No way in hell.

The beta’s lack of a response carried with it his typical words.  _ You’re bullshitting yourself, Lou. _

And then the quieter, more annoying voice in the back of Louis’ mind:

_ What are you so afraid of? _

“I don’t know what to do.” It was hard to admit, but it was the truth.

“Well, you’re partly through the first step of the plan-”

“What plan?”

“The one I made for you. Step one is showing him how good a fuck you are-”

Louis scowled.

“And also having fun, you know, with him. Because you deserve it, Lou. You really do. You don’t take care of yourself enough.”

“And for now I have Harry to do that for me,” Louis snarked.

It was meant to be sarcastic but Zayn agreed adamantly. “Yeah, exactly. So let him pamper you.”

Louis’ scowl deepened. As if being shoved to the hardwood floor of the entryway and knotted right there could be considered “pampered.” He almost said this aloud but decided against it. He was still too embarrassed by how much he enjoyed it. If it had been anyone but Harry he would’ve hated it. Probably would’ve stormed out of the apartment right then and there.

“Look, bro, I’m serious. I don’t know why you scenters always have to make things so complicated. I mean, your biology is supposed to make it easier for you. Something smells good so you let it fuck you. Easy as that.”

“You don’t get it.”

“No,  _ you  _ don’t get it. You’re the one who’s oblivious to the way Harry looks at you with scared heart eyes. Like he wants to kiss you but he thinks you’ll punch him afterwards.”

Louis ignored him, running his fingers over the knit of the sweater he was wearing. Harry’s sweater. It smelled like him. Comforting and heady.  _ I should steal this, _ he thought absentmindedly.

“So what’s step two? After I let him ram me into the mattress, I mean.”

At least that got Zayn to laugh. “Step two is asking him to rub sunscreen on your back when you’re lounging on a pool chair in Cancún. He’ll say yes because he’s in love with you and wants to take care of you. And then you’ll moan when he has his hands on you but you’ll cover it up like it’s a normal noise for you to make, and he’ll realize how much he actually needs you in his life. Simple.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

“I’m joking. Well, kind of. I mean, I’m sure Harry’d enjoy it if you did that.”

“Fuck off,” Louis groaned. He was quiet about it though, careful not to wake Harry. He was still snoring like a jackhammer, so there really wasn’t anything to worry about. “Can you be serious?”

“Honestly, Louis. Just talk to him.”

“That would be humiliating.”

“Okay, fine. But I’m kind of serious about the pool chair in Cancún thing. I can talk to the other guys and we can give you some alone time. Just to talk about your… feelings.” He lingered on the  _ s. _

“Zayn, you haven’t- You haven’t said anything to them, have you?! Fuck-” His heart was racing with the thought that Harry might’ve found out about Louis’ crush on him, through Liam or someone telling him. Maybe that was why he said okay to Louis offering to help him through rut. Because he pitied him. Oh god.

“Calm down. Of course I haven’t.”

Louis banged his head on the window, before pulling the neckline of the sweater to his nose. The smell calmed him. Stupidly so.

“Here, how’s this: step two is you being nice to him instead of scaring the shit out of him the next few days. Stop glaring at him. Let him see what a softie you are.”

“‘M not a-”

“Don’t deny it. I see how you get when you call your mom, or when you’re watching a rom com. Or when you see a cat. Or a baby, for that matter.”

“Fuck. Fine, okay? Fine.”

“Good. It’ll be okay, you know. He likes you. He wouldn’t have let you do this if he didn’t like you.”

“I totally bullied him into it.”

“You didn’t. Well, kind of. But he wants to. Trust me. Everything will work out.”

“Thanks, Zayn. Love you.”

“Love you too, bro.”

Louis got back in bed with Harry, careful not to wake him. He snuggled under his heavy arm again, burying his face in his chest. It was warm here, it smelled like him, and he could hear his heartbeat faintly, the steady thud of blood pumping. The way the alpha subconsciously pulled him closer in his sleep, winding his arms around his back and nosing his hairline, made Louis smile.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

The second day of Harry’s rut passed more smoothly than the first. There were no fire drills, nor almost alpha fights.

Louis was exhausted. Even though his body was meant for it, he wasn’t sure if he could take another knot. Everything was sore and Harry was hardly ever rough with him. He felt like passing out for a few days but the bigger drive was to please the alpha he was with and give him anything he wanted.

It was after lunch when Harry was sated from the meal and an earlier round of intense, orthodox sex just like it was supposed to be if there was a rut instruction manual. Harry fucked him hard while he was on his knees with his face smashed in the pillow. It felt good because he was satisfying an urge he often denied.

So after they ate, and Louis put a fresh set of sheets on the bed while Harry clung to his back and kissed his neck, making it hard for him to complete the task. Then they sat down and made out for a little while, not rolling around like they usually did.

Harry was lying on his back and Louis was on top of him. It was the perfect opportunity, so he took it.

“Will you let me? Just like this?”

The alpha looked like he wanted to argue. Instead, he bit at Louis’ neck and nodded, letting Louis sit upright.

It was amazing and quite frankly kind of scary. It always was, because when Louis was in charge it made him realize how much dick he actually took, how big it really was. Sinking down felt neverending, but it also felt good. Enough to make him throw his head back in pleasure, even though he enjoyed watching Harry’s face as well.

He couldn’t help it, though. He tipped his head back and bared his neck, and Harry groaned, growling loud and proud. It was raw and animalistic, settling a weird feeling in the pit of his belly. He kept his hands steady on Harry’s thighs behind him, arching his back because it felt good. All of it felt so good.

The first uptake had them both gasping. It took Louis a while to find a rhythm but Harry seemed okay to let him experiment and learn his body. He knew Harry must’ve enjoyed the sight of him, fucked out and exhausted, skin covered in sweat that glistened in the sunlight filtering in from the windows. His cheeks were rosy with exertion. His dick was hanging hard and aching, beads of precome gathering at the tip, so sensitive even just to rub against his own skin.

He was wrecked already and they had hardly even started, this round at least. He brushed his sweaty fringe away from his forehead and couldn’t stand to meet Harry’s eyes; his gaze was too intense.

When Louis got too tired, each bounce somehow sloppier than the last, less coordinated, his body jittering with the prelude to his orgasm, Harry grabbed his hips and took over. He planted his feet flat on the bed and let the omega rest back on his legs. Once they were both comfortable he fucked into him as hard as he could, making Louis whimper.

He wasn’t usually one to whimper during sex, yet here he was. Whimpering. It seemed Harry brought out all of the things in him Louis used to use to make fun of other people. Harry turned him into the omega he never wanted to be, vulnerable and  _ needy _ , but somehow now that he was here it didn’t seem so bad.

Harry may not have liked him, but he sure did fuck him with intent. When his knot popped. Louis stopped breathing for a second and then collapsed forward, gasping for air and crying out. There was something about Harry filling him, not just any alpha but  _ Harry _ , that made him ache in the best way possible. God, it felt so good.

It was nice to not be crushed under his weight for once, as Harry filled him with come and they laid there, panting, tangled in each other. Louis had no real recollection of it but he had already come, somehow in the hazy pleasure he had tipped over the edge.

It felt like oblivion.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

So the sex was good, that much was certain.

But it was the little things that made Louis second guess everything.

If Harry really hated him, or at least disliked him, or wanted nothing to do with him whatsoever, why would he be so gentle with him? Why would he kiss Louis’ bare shoulders and nuzzle into his hair? Why would he ask if he was okay, in the middle of knotting him? Why would he do any of it?

The logical answer was that he was a good alpha even though he didn’t like Louis. He was capable of being gentle and nice to anyone, regardless of personal opinion.

But then there were the in-between moments, before the arousal became too much to bear, and before they would fall asleep or after they would wake up. The little moments where everything felt warm and right.

It was too cold to go outside, so they sat on the floor by the french doors to the balcony and fed each other slices of fruit. It started off as something teasing but Harry was very adamant about putting the pieces of melon on Louis’ tongue himself. Which then made Louis laugh and almost choke on a slice of honeydew.

They cuddled on the couch, the armchair, Harry’s bed, and even the floor. Also, the shower.

The shower was a weird, special place because it was always a hassle to get Harry inside. Logically, he was resistant to washing off their scents, seeing all his hard work go down the drain. The only way Louis could get him anywhere near the bathroom was with the promise of letting him knot him once they got there.

All of it was a lot. Louis was tired. The exhaustion made it easier for him to comply, which pleased both of them, because Louis could relax into whatever they were doing and Harry could move him whichever way he wanted. Louis rarely put up a fight, and just did what Harry asked of him, because it felt easy. It felt right. He didn’t want to do anything else.

Being called “omega” by anyone else would annoy Louis to no end, but it was different with Harry. He figured it was easier to call him “alpha” as well for the same reason. The reason Louis wasn’t willing to admit to himself yet.

It was on the third day that Louis let himself daydream a little too much. It was simple to lose himself in certain moments and let his mind wander. It was difficult to form coherent thoughts when they were in the middle of intimate activities, but afterwards when Harry would get them situated in a comfortable position to wait until his knot would go down, Louis’ thoughts would wander and he would explore parts of himself he wished he could stifle.

Simply put, Harry’s apartment was nice and Louis would love to live here. Not just because the king-sized bed was comfy and the large windows in each room let in a refreshing amount of light, but mostly because Harry was here and Louis didn’t want to live in a place without him. His own apartment was cramped and old and even though he had Zayn, he didn’t have Harry.

It was so easy to imagine living here with him. To imagine waking up every day with him, in this bed, trading sleepy smiles and getting dressed for work together. Sharing the sink as they brushed their teeth. Making coffee and tea. Kissing each other before going their separate ways.

And then the sleepy weekend mornings, the ones where they would stay in bed for a while.

Louis wasn’t a morning person so he had no idea why his newfound fantasies were suddenly focusing on the early hours of the day. In fact, Louis rarely fantasized about alphas in general. He couldn’t believe himself. He was being ridiculous.

Harry was currently knocked out and snoring against Louis’ neck. Each exhale made his skin tingle.

Louis had no idea why Harry was so worried about spending his rut with an omega. He did well. Great, even. He was kind and gentle, and for the most part he listened when Louis asked him to do something. Nothing he did was out of line. None of it scared Louis. He wondered why Harry was so concerned, and who or what made him think he was particularly violent.

If anything, Louis saw a bit of the insecurity seeping through. How Harry needed reassurance and praise sometimes. How Louis would have to tell him, “you’re doing great,” and “I want this, I want you,” until he believed it.

The more time they spent together, the more Louis realized Harry was perfect for him. The perfect alpha. And that was bad because Harry was on a different level altogether and would never stoop so low as to reciprocate feelings for an omega like Louis.

So he resigned himself to savoring and enjoying the last of Harry’s rut. It was going to be over soon, and they would go back to their distant acquaintanceship, brought together only by mutual friends.

Louis sighed, sinking further into the mattress. It was hard to be sad when Harry was currently fucking him with intent, even though he knew it would be over soon. It was the evening of their third day together, and within the next twelve hours or so, the alpha would return to his normal, lucid self. No longer sex-crazed, and back to the awkward tension between them.

He wrapped his arms around Harry’s back because he was being pushed up the bed with each thrust. It felt good to be close to him but he wanted to be closer. Louis clung to him like his life depended on it.

He couldn’t bear to be too far away from him, couldn’t stand the thought of even a millimeter of empty space between their skin, between the warmth of Harry’s body encompassing Louis’. He couldn’t stand the distance between them, no matter how inconsequential.

Louis wasn’t sure how he was going to handle their return to a complete lack interaction, but he would find a way. He had no other choice.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

H a r r y

 

The end of an alpha’s rut was typically marked with the reinstatement of conscious awareness. It was less like waking up from a coma and more like coming out of a trance. It didn’t wipe his memory clean of the past few days, though, and he could remember snippets of what happened, bits and pieces that were out of order and challenging to pinpoint.

The haze dissipated and finally he could think clearly. At least somewhat. Dreamlike memories flooded his mind, snapshots of the events of the past few days. The feelings were easier to place than the events themselves, mostly a mix of lust and pleasure, protectiveness and possessiveness. Something settling deep in his core, the instinct of mating.

Harry rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles before opening them to peer out at the world. Sunlight bathed the room in gold, the particular brightness indicating it was either just after dawn or just before dusk.

He had no idea what day it was, and maybe he would be more inclined to check his phone to get some sense of time, except his nose was twitching at the inhalation of the most mouthwatering scent he had ever smelled.

He squeezed his eyes shut and then reopened them to peek beside him. An omega was curled up, lying on his stomach and clutching a pillow to his chest. The bedsheets were tangled around his waist which meant the tan skin of his bare back was on display, warm and inviting.

Harry couldn’t help himself. He pressed his hand between the omega’s shoulder blades just to touch him. Only when the palm of his hand met soft skin, did he remember: this was  _ Louis. _

His heart rate picked up but he kept his hand there because he couldn’t fathom losing the skin-on-skin contact. It was glorious.

He inhaled deeply and let the fantastic scent in the air calm him down. Then it dawned on him that this was the scent of him and Louis  _ together _ . The product of them fucking non-stop for the past three days.

Despite everything that had happened recently, despite the fact that he was an alpha and shouldn’t be embarrassed by these things, Harry blushed.

He had never had this sort of connection with someone before. It was all new. He didn’t know how to deal with the burning feeling in his gut that told him to sink his teeth into the back of the omega’s neck. He had felt the typical instinct to mate and bond before but it had never, ever been this strong.

Harry closed his eyes again and gave himself a minute to get his inner wolf back in line.  _ This is a one-time thing, _ Harry told his wolf sternly.  _ We just got lucky. Louis was being a good friend, not even for our sake, but for Niall’s. So we’re gonna have to let him go. Give it up. We have no right to be clingy. _

The longer Harry stayed there, unmoving, as Louis slept, the creepier he felt. Wasn’t he taking advantage, if his rut was over but he still had the omega in his bed? He knew he should probably wake him up and let him know he was clear-headed now.

Feeling awkward and not sure how to wake him up, Harry couldn’t help but stroke his back once before giving his shoulder a little shake.

“Mmf, ten more minutes Hazza,  _ please _ . ‘M sore…”

Hazza? Louis had never called him that before.

“I was- It’s over, I think,” he stuttered, cringing. Thank god Louis was facing away from him.

Louis tensed, his biceps tightening as he clutched the pillow closer to his chest. “Oh, um. Okay. Do you want me to leave?”

“What? No.” The answer was out of his mouth before he could think about it. “I mean, only if you want to-”

Louis’ body was already relaxing back into the mattress, his shoulders untensing. “Mmkay.”

Harry had no idea what to do. He stared at the omega in his bed who was in the process of falling back asleep. Even though the sheets were covering him from the waist down, the fact that he was naked had Harry salivating.

His rut was coming to an end but that didn’t mean it was over completely. It wasn’t a switch that turned on and off, nor was it a state that ended suddenly. The transition to normalcy and control was gradual. He felt his blood rushing south, and bit his lip so hard he tasted metal. He could hardly be blamed, he reasoned, given the circumstances.

“Just be patient,” Louis mumbled, voice sleepy. He wiggled his ass but it was only to get more comfortable. “I’ll let you have it in a little bit.”

A low rumbling sound filled the air. It took Harry a moment too long to realize it was himself making that noise. He was  _ growling _ . Good god, he had never growled before out of rut.

Louis scoffed but made no move to unwrap himself from the sheets and present.

Harry mentally smacked himself for being such a knothead. “Sorry,” he muttered, his gaze trailing the curves of the omega’s body against his better judgement. He closed his eyes for the third time and flopped back on the bed, trying to clear his mind.

Everything within him was telling him to cuddle the omega into his chest, keep him warm and safe there. He had to stifle the instinct because he didn’t want to make Louis uncomfortable, now that his rut was over and the burning need had mostly quelled. Even if the possibility was still so tempting.

Time in that moment passed slowly, with Harry fighting the conflicting urges that drove his actions. The sun rose languidly in the sky, bringing daytime. So it was morning, then, he assumed, the day before their departure. Meaning they had an entire day to laze around and rest up before their flight.

To be honest, Harry really was exhausted. Moreso this rut than the ones he spent by himself, probably because he was doing more work given the fact that he had another person with him. It definitely intensified the emotions he felt as well.

However, in addition to feeling exhausted, he also felt mostly satisfied. Much more than after a rut spent with just his own hand to keep him company. There was still an unsettled feeling because they hadn’t bonded, even though his wolf was telling him to bite, but it wasn’t that bad. Harry could deal with it.

An hour or so passed as Harry dozed on and off for a while, always aware of the omega beside him. The urge to protect him made it difficult to rest and relax completely. He felt like he had to keep an eye on him to make sure nothing bad happened.

Not that they were in harm’s way in Harry’s home, but still.

A while later, Louis was lulled awake. He rolled over on his side to face Harry, his hair sticking up adorably. Harry realized then that most of his skin was covered in come, dried and flaking off. It would’ve been gross if it wasn’t so fucking hot. It wasn’t just Harry’s come, but Louis’ too, mixed together, marking the omega’s skin.

Louis rolled his eyes, more playful than usual, and reached down to grab Harry’s dick.

And- oh. They completed a lot of sexual acts the past few days but this was the first one during which Harry was fully aware. He found himself mesmerized by Louis’ hand stroking him. It was almost too much to deal with.

“Fuck,” he groaned. He hadn’t expected this. He thought Louis would get away from Harry as soon as possible, now that his rut was over and there was no reason to stay.

“Okay?”

Harry’s eyes flicked back to Louis’ because he didn’t understand the question. Why would he be asking if Harry was okay? Of course he was okay, he was experiencing the most amount of pleasure he had ever had in his life. But then- oh. He realized Louis was asking because Harry sounding distressed.

“Yeah, yeah,” he assured, panting. Much too overwhelmed for a simple handjob. Even coming out of rut he didn’t really have an excuse for this. Louis was just the most mouth-watering omega in the world and Harry had no idea how to deal with this fact. “Feels- feels good,” he slurred, to try to explain.

“Yeah, I bet,” Louis laughed, twisting his wrist in a way that made Harry groan loudly, the deep throaty sound vibrating in the otherwise quiet air.

Harry was surprised when Louis ducked down to take his dick in his mouth. He hadn’t known what to expect at all and for some reason thought Louis wouldn’t want to give a blowjob unless he had to. He kept his hands wrapped around Harry’s knot which was already swelling, careful to keep it far away from his mouth. Harry remembered that was one of the omega’s hard limits.

His brain short-circuited for a moment, not processing anything but the feeling of Louis’ mouth encompassing him. The wet warmth of his tongue and the back of his throat. Harry screwed his eyes shut tightly as his knot popped to its full size and he began to come.

Louis swallowed most of it, but got tired of having his dick in his mouth after a while and pulled his lips off, which meant his face, neck, and chest getting messy. He didn’t give Harry much time to admire him like that before he wiped it off with the corner of the sheet until he was decent. Then he crawled back up the bed so they were lying beside each other, and that was that.

Harry flopped onto his back, his breathing irregular and labored. He stared up at the ceiling and found himself unable to process what just happened.

Meanwhile Louis sat up and wandered to the wardrobe. He rifled around in the bottom drawer before pulling out some clean clothes of Harry’s.

“I’m gonna take a shower. I’ll be out in a few.”

“Take your time,” Harry croaked, throwing his arm over his eyes. He couldn’t stand the sight of Louis there, naked and beautiful. Out of reach.

Louis hummed before leaving the room. It wasn’t until Harry heard the water turn on in the bathroom that he finally got up and dressed. His limbs felt heavy with exertion, but there was something he wanted to do before sleeping the day away.

In the kitchen, he checked the clock on the microwave and saw that it was only 8:30 in the morning. He rustled around in the bottom cupboard for his favorite frying pan and set it on the stove, lighting the burner. Then, he got to work.

Louis did end up taking a long shower, even though he sounded ambiguous on the subject. He returned to Harry forty-five minutes later, clean and relaxed, barefoot, hair dripping, wearing Harry’s clothes.

“Hey,” he said, sounding unsure. His nose twitched as he smelled the air. “What’re you…”

“Breakfast.” Harry pointed at the dining table which was set with plates and silverware, hot food waiting in covered dishes.

“Oh, wow. You didn’t have to do all this.”

“It’s my way of saying thank you, so. Thank you.”

Louis didn’t meet his eyes, but he did take a seat at the table. “Well, I’m not gonna say no to this.”

Internally, Harry beamed. He finished up in the kitchen and then sat down too. He wanted a view of the street and the mountains in the distance so instead of sitting across from Louis, he sat on the side of the square table that was next to Louis’ side.

“This is really good,” Louis remarked through a mouthful of food. He pointed his fork at Harry, pausing to swallow. “I should be the one feeding you, though.”

He was wearing Harry’s hoodie. His favorite one, the worn gray one with a logo on the bag, Randy’s Donuts, the one he got at a thrift shop. It was soft, it had history, and Harry loved it. Harry loved it even more on Louis. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows to stay out of the way as he shoveled bacon, eggs, and toast into his mouth.

The typical after-rut protocol, not that Harry knew anything about it except from what he heard from his friends, was that the omega would make a meal for the alpha.

“Doesn’t matter,” Harry shrugged, spearing a strawberry and stuffing it in his mouth. Around it, he added, “Like I said, this is me saying thank you for, like, dealing with all of that. You didn’t have to, and you… You made it a lot easier for me, and I’m really grateful.”

Louis broke Harry’s awkward but heartfelt moment by rolling his eyes. It was his signature move, around Harry at least. “You’re such a sap. It’s just rut, good god.”

Harry squinted at him. If this were a typical situation he would probably feel insecure because of the way the omega was judging him. But he knew that right now Louis’ snark was just a defense mechanism, a wall going up to keep Harry from getting too close, from seeing inside.

“So you don’t want the gift I got for you, then? As a thank you for helping me with this? What a shame, guess I’ll have to return it.”

“You got me a gift?” Louis definitely knew what Harry was doing but apparently he couldn’t help his curiosity. “What is it?”

“Oh, now you’re so interested,” Harry teased, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning. He couldn’t help it. He watched Louis squirm for a second and then glare at him, before Harry held up his hands in surrender and went to retrieve it.

It was a stupid gift and one he bought during his pre-rut which could explain some of it. Louis would probably laugh in his face but at this point he didn’t care; it was worth a shot to try to please him. And take care of him. And spoil him.

He sat back down in his seat and tried not to watch obsessively as Louis opened it.

Louis removed the tissue paper from the gift bag and carefully folded it, setting it on the table. Harry was surprised because he seemed like the person to destroy the wrapping instead of attempting to save it.

“Oh,” Louis breathed, looking inside. “What is this?”

“It’s like a self care basket, but like, in a bag,” Harry explained. “Lotion and face masks and stuff.”

Louis pulled the items out one by one and inspected each carefully, reading the names out loud, even the ones in other languages like Swedish or French. He started smiling when he got to the various brands of his favorite types of tea, some of them in fancy tins. It was a cute smile. A wonderful smile.

“Thank you,” Louis said, genuine. He stood up and rounded the table, kissing Harry on the cheek. “You’re very sweet.”

Harry didn’t know how to respond so he tapped his fingers on the table. They ate the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence and by the time their plates were clean, Louis leant back in his chair and rubbed his belly.

“I’m gonna change the sheets and take a nap. Care to join?”

He didn’t even think about the omega’s question; already knew the answer was yes. “I’ll change the sheets,” Harry said. Louis has no doubt done that enough already.

Louis shrugged and hugged the gift bag to his chest, heading towards the bedroom. Over his shoulder, he called out, “Don’t get anywhere near me until you shower—you’re filthy!”

Harry laughed and followed him to change the sheets so Louis could rest in a clean bed. He watched him climb onto the mattress and get comfortable beneath the sheets before it became apparent that he was staring. Only then did he leave with reluctance to take a shower.

It was refreshing, to say the least, to wash away all the sweat and other substances on his body. He took his time washing everything and then standing under the shower spray, letting the cool water run down his back. By the time he was finished and wrapped up in a towel, he was starting to feel cold, and sleepy. It was the perfect situation to get in bed, despite it being the beginning of the day.

Louis was curled on his side, facing away from the doorway, when Harry entered. He didn’t shift much but it was clear he was still awake. Harry got in bed beside him and wanted to cuddle the omega to his chest but he wasn’t sure what was allowed.

Louis had been so nice to him recently which was such a difference from how he usually treated Harry, dismissing him completely or flat out pretending he didn’t exist. This attention and kindness was unfamiliar. Harry was afraid of what would happen when they left for Cancun tomorrow and met up with the others. Chances were, Louis would act a lot different once they were in public.

“Come closer,” Louis whined, reaching behind himself and patting blindly at Harry’s tummy. “Actually, wait.” He flipped over so he was facing Harry and then beckoned him closer.

It still wasn’t clear what was allowed. Harry moved closer and Louis shoved one of his knees between Harry’s thighs. That was enough to motivate Harry to set his hand on Louis hip instead of having his arm hover awkwardly. It felt nice to touch him there, softly.

“Excited for Cancun?”

“Yeah,” Harry lied. He knew he should be excited but he couldn’t help it when going on vacation meant the end of being close to Louis like this.

“Me too.” Louis pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, then moved closer until his nose was buried in Harry’s chest. Their legs were still entangled. He inhaled, and laughed when Harry did the same but on the top of his head, nuzzling his nose into Louis’ soft hair.

“Feels good.” The words were out of his mouth without him realizing it.

“Right after is always the best,” Louis agreed, meaning right after rut. “The bond’s the strongest then.”

_ The bond? _ “What?”

“From knotting.” There was a hint of exasperation in his voice, because yeah, Harry was stupid about these kinds of things.

“Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I know.”

“Will it be hard? When we’re not together?”

Louis shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t digging into the sheets. “Probably.” Nonchalant. “It’s always hard, mating with someone but not bonding. Especially during rut or heat, but like, always, too. Probably worse for O’s, but. You don’t feel that?”

“No, I do, I guess, I dunno.” Harry had never really thought of it before. He’d been with a few people but he never really felt a connection long after they mated. Usually the feeling went away in hours, rather than days or weeks.

Louis yawned for the second time in the past few minutes. “Doesn’t really matter.” He snuggled closer.

Harry smoothed his hand down the omega’s side and then curved it around his back out of instinct. It should’ve been weird to be this close, this relaxed with one another, when Harry was actually coherent, but it wasn’t the past few days had disrupted the tension. The past few days had created a bridge that crossed the divide between them.

Only part of Louis’ face was visible but he could see the smile on his lips.

Freshly showered, swathed in clean sheets, and wrapped around each other—they fell asleep like this.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

By the time they woke up early the next morning to catch their ride to the airport, Harry was fairly certain they had experienced a cosmic shift in their relationship.

Louis still scoffed and rolled his eyes, which wasn’t new at all. The new thing was that, instead of dismissing Harry and ignoring him, he made fun of him every chance he got. In a teasing, playful way. Like friends would do.

There were no declarations of everlasting friendship or even simple, sweet sincerity. Harry knew not to expect that of Louis ever, no matter the circumstance. He had a feeling this weird, insulting friendship was as good as he was ever going to get, and he was trying to be fine with it.

Louis was still grouchy in the morning, despite the fact that they had slept the entire day previous, only waking up to eat dinner. Also, despite the fact that they were about to board a plane to Mexico.

He grumbled about the kitchen but turned quiet once Harry thrust a mug of tea in his hands. After that, things were okay. Louis fell asleep on Harry’s shoulder during the ride to the airport, and then once again while they were waiting for their friends to arrive.

It was nice to have Louis leaning on him because the proximity made it easier for Harry to convey to the world that the omega was off-limits. He still smelled a lot like Harry due to the fact that they haven’t left each other’s side in days, and Harry was planning on keeping it that way.

Harry was too busy admiring Louis’ peacefulness while sleeping that he didn’t notice Niall, Liam, and Zayn were walking up to him until Niall said hi. He looked up and saw all of them eyeing him warily, with the way Louis was knocked out on his shoulder, snuggled into his hoodie.

“Good past few days, then?” Niall asked, sitting down on one of the chairs facing where Harry and Louis were on the window ledge, leaning against the cold glass. Behind them, airplanes took off down the runway every so often. It was cool to watch them lift off.

“Very,” Harry smirked, knowing he looked smug. It was easier to perform the role of a typical alpha than it was to convey how over the moon he was at the fact that Louis was comfortable enough with him to fall asleep on him. Harry didn’t want to give him any reason not to trust him so he kept his arm around his back, propping him upright so he wouldn’t fall over.

“That’s great,” Liam beamed, his smile genuine. Liam was like that, always wanting everyone to be happy, as if that was his own personal responsibility.

The conversation shifted to their excitement about the upcoming vacation and all the things they wanted to do with their time in Cancun.

Zayn was the only one who stayed quiet. He leant back in his chair and appraised Harry, eyes scanning over him as if he was evaluating him.

Harry and Zayn were good friends but Zayn was always closer to Louis, since they lived together, which made it uncomfortable. Besides, they were both so quiet when they didn’t have someone else around the kickstart the conversation, so Harry and Zayn rarely hung out together without the presence of the others.

Harry ignored the way Zayn was looking at him. He instead kept his focus on the conversation, while also paying special attention to the warm omega clinging to him in his sleep.

By the time the flight attendant announced that they could board the flight, Harry had yet to discover a good way to wake Louis without him being grouchy. He patted his shoulder until he woke up, batting Harry’s hand away and glaring at him.

Some of the seats were already taken because they were the second group to board, which meant it was impossible for them to all sit together. The airline was on that let them choose their seats instead of assigning them, which was nice in theory but stressful in practice. It was a six hour flight which kind of sucked. Niall sat as close to the front as he could. Zayn took the first window seat he found and Liam slid in after him. Louis tugged on Harry’s coat to get his attention and pointed to two open seats a bit further back. Harry was relieved that the omega wanted to sit by him.

When Louis went to lift his suitcase to the overhead compartment, Harry said, “Let me.”

The omega just shrugged at the blatant act of chivalry and clambered over an annoyed-looking alpha businessman on the aisle seat to get to the window seat. Once Harry lifted both their bags to the overhead, he clumsily got to his seat and apologized to the alpha who clutched his briefcase in a tight grip. He knew they were being a bit obnoxious since his own scent was still strong after his rut and Louis smelled absolutely obscene, but what else were they supposed to do?

Like most people, Harry preferred the window seat while flying, but it was worth it to give it up for Louis’ sake. His excitement and awe as they took off was adorable. He pointed out places in the distance he could recognize and Harry leaned close to him just because he had an excuse. He was still leaning close by the time they breached the clouds, even when there were no more landmarks to label. Louis didn’t say anything about it so Harry didn’t move away.

“Six hours is sooo long,” Louis complained. He was no longer sleepy and instead fidgeting in his seat, unable to sit still.

“Calm down. If you take a nap it’ll go quicker.”

“‘M not tired, though.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve been asleep for like twenty-four hours, basically.”

“And?”

Harry shrugged and continued disentangling his earbuds. There was a new podcast about alpha-omega equality he wanted to listen to. He was just about to put one in his ear when Louis swatted them out of his hands.

“What was that for?!”

“You can’t just leave me alone. You have to entertain me.”

“Do I, now?”

“Yes. I wanna make fun of your stupid taste in music.” Louis snatched his phone out of his hands and opened the music app, hitting shuffle. He gave Harry one earbud and used the other.

Harry rolled his eyes but couldn’t muster even mere annoyance once Louis rested his cheek on Harry’s shoulder again and closed his eyes. It was calming to be connected like this, listening to the same songs and also being physically close.

He thought it would be painful, having Louis for only a few days and then having to go back to the way things were before his rut. But things weren’t going back to the way they were, at least not yet. Maybe Louis’ clinginess would wear off in a few days and then it would all come crashing down. But for now, it was okay.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

Traveling in the morning and then spending the entire day at the poolside was exhausting.

Harry had no idea why lying on a beach chair could be so exerting, but by the time they got back to the hotel room, he was ready for a nap. The rest of the group was on the same page.

“We have to eat dinner,” Liam reminded.

“Do we, Liam?”

“Fuck off, Louis.”

“Room service,” Niall supplied. “But we have to be careful about our order to make sure it’s in budget. In fact, I think I should do the ordering.”

Liam shrugged and handed the phone over to Niall, who placed an order for dinner. Niall was the one who knew everything about their vacation and everyone else was clueless. Clueless and in awe, actually, because things had gone so smoothly thus far, and the resort they were staying at was really luxurious.

“Dibs on first shower,” Louis announced, dropping his towel to the floor without any preempt and disappearing into the bathroom. Harry’s eyes didn’t leave him the whole time because he looked so good in his swim trunks and nothing else.

Typical omega clothes for swimming included a wetsuit shirt with a turtleneck. Louis obviously didn’t comply with this expectation, and thus received a lot of dirty looks at the pool today. Harry was two seconds away from growling at the strangers who even so much as glanced at him the wrong way but Louis just laughed it off and told Harry to calm down; he was used to it.

By the time their dinner arrived, all of them had already showered except for Harry.

The air-conditioning was on full blast because Liam and Niall claimed they liked a colder room, although they were bundled up in hoodies and sweats. Harry was still wearing what he wore to the pool, and he was shirtless. It was unpleasantly cold, even for an alpha, and his skin was covered in goosebumps. But he didn’t want to put on clean clothes before showering.

“How’re we dividing up the beds?”

“There’s two queens and the pull-out on the couch, so…” Clearly no one wanted the pull-out. No doubt, it the mattress was thin enough to feel the springs digging into one’s back.

Louis scrambled towards one of the beds and flung himself on top of the mattress, claiming it.

“How come you get a real bed?”

He sat up, looking like a princess on a throne. “‘Cause I’m omega and meant to be pampered.”

Niall rolled his eyes. “You can’t just play the gender card whenever you want something. That’s not how it works.”

Louis shrugged, flopping back on the bed. Harry was itching to go over there and say he could share with him. But he knew that would be awkward. He would just have to see how things would play out. But there was no telling what he would do if someone else tried to sleep in the same bed as Louis. The others probably, hopefully, were aware of that and would decide not to mess with him.

“So who’s in the other one, then?”

Niall and Zayn dove to the bed at the same time, as Liam protested out loud and tried to pull Niall off the bed. Niall clung to the mattress and flailed his limbs, smacking Zayn in the face on accident. Which led to all three of them rolling around on the bed, fighting over who would sleep there tonight.

Harry just watched, unsure of what to do. He looked over at Louis who was watching them with amusement and laughing.

“I’m gonna shower,” Harry announced to the room, but no one was listening but Louis.

He would probably end up with the pull-out which was awful for his back but it was worth it, at least, for the sake of the shower warming him. Alphas didn’t get cold, usually, but he was exhausted so he decided to give himself a pass.

When he finished up half an hour later, the hotel room was uncharacteristically tranquil. The TV was on and someone was flipping through the stations, so the dialogue was choppy and incongruent. But other than that, all was silent.

A stifled laugh escaped him when he entered the bedroom and saw Niall, Liam, and Zayn passed out on the bed.

“Did you drug them?”

“Hah. No, they fell asleep like that.”

Harry looked at the way Liam was lying flat on his back, with the other two curled up by his sides. Niall was burrowed into his armpit while Zayn rested his cheek on Liam’s stomach. Liam had always been a little more protective  than the typical beta, a little more alpha.

Even then, this solved nothing. The pull-out was still a viable option. Was that where he was supposed to go?

Louis was leaning back against the headboard, sinking down, cuddling into the hoodie he was wearing. His eyes were on the TV but Harry could feel his attention on him. He didn’t know how to ask where to go, didn’t know if it was a good idea to even insinuate sleeping with Louis.

“I’m going to sleep,” Louis announced, clicking the TV off. He reached over to the bedside table and flicked the lamp off too, and then the room was too dark to make out anything but basic shapes. Harry couldn’t read his face, he had no chance of it.

But then he rolled over and curled up on his side. For the most part, his body was contained to one half of the bed. It felt like an invitation.

Harry was an alpha which meant he was supposed to be confident and assured. He wasn’t supposed to doubt himself like this. He was supposed to take what he wanted and not overthink stupid things like which bed to sleep in. But it always felt more complicated than that, more awkward.

He knew he wasn’t good at being alpha. It was a part of his day-to-day life, being bad at it. Too ambiguous, too dull. Too mild. Never assertive enough. Weak, if he felt like being particularly hard on himself. He wasn’t a natural born leader, he wasn’t particularly strong, he didn’t work in a field that allowed him to protect large masses of people every day. He didn’t feel attuned to omega’s needs like he was supposed to be, and not only was he supposedly too violent and aggressive during his rut, but he was also afraid of that fact, which didn’t just make him a bad alpha but also made him a coward.

Still, half the bed was open. Unclaimed. And Louis scent hadn’t changed; it wasn’t closed off or defensive or even annoyed. It was just that steady, sweet smell. Calm enough to release some of the tension in Harry’s shoulders.

He rounded the bed and set his bag down on the patterned carpet. He stared at the shape of Louis’ back in the dark, turned away from him and small in a way because that’s what Louis was, small, compact, only physically. The omega didn’t move or give any indication that he was awake, but there was no way he had already fallen asleep. It had only been a few minutes since he turned the light out.

His breath hitched audibly when Harry pulled the sheets back and slipped in beside him. The bed was filled with a surplus of pillows so Harry grabbed one of the extras and cuddled it to his chest. Just so he wouldn’t feel as tempted to reach out and cuddle someone else, someone like the omega who was less than a foot away from him and definitely not breathing in normal patterns. With a weird feeling in his chest, Harry realized Louis was nervous.

He wanted to comfort him, but knowing he was the reason for Louis’ subtle anxiety made things more complicated.

“Is this okay?” Harry asked, because he couldn’t stand the tension.

“Huh? Oh- Yeah, of course.”

A few weeks ago Harry was certain Louis would scoff at him and laugh in his face if he ever suggested sharing a bed like this. Either something had changed or he was wrong about the omega the whole time.

The position wasn’t comfortable so he flipped over onto his stomach, hoping he wasn’t disturbing Louis too much from all the movements. He wasn’t sure why he had decided to lie on his back anyways; it wasn’t a very alpha thing to do. Most alphas slept on their stomachs because somehow it felt more comfortable and right. The practice of sleeping this way came from prehistoric times when alphas would physically cover their omegas with their bodies to protect them from harm.

It was the same reason why seeing Louis in bed with his back to him, completely trusting, did something to him. But that was an entirely different phenomenon altogether.

In this way, Harry’s subconscious could pretend the pillow in his arms was an omega. He felt better like this and it was easier to fall asleep, even with the distance between him and Louis. Harry’s inner wolf was upset and distraught at the lack of physical contact but after years of repressing his wolf’s desires, he was pretty good at it.

Wondering if Louis was feeling the same sort of inner turmoil was his last thought before sleep took over.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

L o u i s

 

“He’s been staring at you for the past two hours.”

“Shut up. He has not.”

“See for yourself,” Zayn said as he resettled himself on the pool chair, having flipped over to evenly tan his back. The movement made it possible for him to see the upper level of the pool area, where Harry and Liam were relaxing in the shade.

“What’re we talking about?” Niall propped his arms on the edge of the pool, grinning at Louis like he already knew the answer.

Louis scoffed. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Harry’s gone all possessive alpha and won’t stop staring at Louis,” Zayn explained.

“Oh shit,” Niall laughed, eyeing Harry and presumably finding him staring at Louis. “That’s kind of creepy.”

Louis groaned and threw his arms over his eyes, squirming on the plastic of the chair he was lying on. The sun was pleasant and warm on his skin, but it was getting a little bit hot. He would have to hop in the pool sometime soon if he didn't want to completely fry, but going into the pool meant getting out and feeling cold. Louis hated feeling cold.

“What happened between you two? This is so weird. You two have been acting so weird. I mean, you’ve always acted weird around each other, but I thought it was the whole alpha-omega thing. But this is on a different level.”

“Shut uuuuuppppp,” Louis groaned for the millionth time. It was becoming his mantra. “Of course it’s weird, we literally spent the past three days fucking, okay? He knotted me. Many times. Of course he’s going to be a little fixated. For the love of god. It’s just instinct. The feeling will go away eventually and everything will go back to normal.”

“Gross, I don’t wanna know the details.”

“What’d you think we were doing, Niall? Playing board games?”

“Sheesh, calm down, Louis.”

Zayn calmly cut off their banter, saying, “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“So sure of what? You don’t make any fucking sense. Why’re you so cryptic?” Louis was getting defensive but he couldn’t help it, this felt too personal to talk about even with his best friends. What happened between him and Harry felt private and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn’t want their escapade to be a topic of poolside conversation.

“I meant, I don’t know how you can think things’ll just go back to normal once the bond between you guys wears off or whatever.”

“Right!” Niall agreed. “Obviously things have changed. I never understood you guys before but you have to be at least friends now, right? After everything you’ve done together.”

Louis shrugged and closed his eyes, pretending he was going to take a nap. It was easier to shut down the conversation and pretend none of this was happening. But he knew Zayn and Niall weren’t lying; he could  _ feel _ Harry’s eyes on him. Like one of his extra omega senses. He just knew he was looking at him.

It was strange to feel so disheveled by the actions of an alpha. Louis was usually the most composed person ever. He laughed in the faces of people who got distracted by scents and everything else that came with secondary genders. Louis was strong and disciplined; he had trained himself not only to ignore all of those things but also to ignore the internal motivations as well, the inner wolf that was constantly telling him to act omega. Whatever that meant.

Well, Louis did know what it meant. He was supposed to be quiet and submissive, which he wasn’t. At all. And there were so many rules for omegas which Louis actively and outwardly opposed. He’d been doing this for years, ever since he was aware of the world enough to understand that omegas were oppressed systemically, symbolically, and collectively.

The point was, Louis usually didn’t feel this distraught over an alpha. Most of it came down to the slightly crude fact that he rarely let alphas knot him. Knotting created an emotional, claiming bond that tended to annoy Louis—he didn’t have the patience to deal with something so capricious and meaningless.

Meaningless was a harsh word but usually feelings after knotting were just that, meaningless. Because they tended to only be based on knotting and nothing else, not even real attraction, real admiration, real love, whatever.

Suddenly Louis felt like bursting into tears. That was new. It was just that he couldn’t get over what he remembered from Harry’s rut: the feeling that Harry was the one. As cliche as that was. The feeling that Harry was made for him, that they were meant for each other, that somehow they belonged. The extra omega sense that made it easier for them to know when they found the right mate.

The myth of it, the fact that Louis wasn’t entirely convinced this extra sense existed, complicated things. But it didn’t matter, because he felt it. When he was with Harry, he felt it, whatever  _ it _ was.

It should’ve been simple, but sue Louis for not knowing how to act around Harry when he was getting this unexplained feeling that he could only describe as “it.” God, he was so incompetent.

“Alright, Lou?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Louis gasped. He opened his eyes, looking at his hands and realizing he was shaking. God dammit. “I think I need to swim.”

He stood up which gave him a good view of Harry and Liam on the upper deck, having what looked like a private conversation. Harry was wearing sunglasses but it was still easy to tell he was looking at Louis; his movements traced Louis’ movements. It was weird. Harry sat up straighter, probably realizing Louis was going into the water.

Louis sighed to clear the stagnant air from his lungs, and shook out his body as if to get rid of the weird feeling. Instead of jumping into the water he sat down on the edge of the pool and slipped in, immediately dropping under the surface.

It was calmer there, quieter. Sunlight scintillated on the bottom of the pool in pretty patterns from the languid waves on the surface of the water. He resurfaced only when his lungs begged for more air. The world seemed a bit more clear after that.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

“Hey, you feeling okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah. All good.”

“Good,” Louis echoed, not mentioning the fact that Harry was still acting weird and that’s why Louis decided to check up on him.

He was still dripping wet from climbing out of the pool in the most graceful way he could manage, which wasn’t very graceful at all. The stairs were probably the better option, but it didn’t matter, Harry hadn’t been looking at him. For once. Instead, the alpha was lying on one of the couches in the shade, face buried in an oversized pillow that looked like a cloud.

Louis was covered in goosebumps from the breeze on the upper deck brushing against his wet skin, so he wrapped his towel tighter, pulling it over his shoulders and hiding his shivers. He sat down on a comfy chair beside Harry’s couch, looking out over the resort, and the ocean beyond it. It really was a beautiful, extensive place.

“Still pretty exhausted,” Harry offered, to keep the conversation going. He lifted his head up from the pillow to share a private smile with Louis. It was funny how their shared experience of Harry’s rut felt like an inside joke now, something only the two of them understood. It drew them closer, made them feel like they understood each other, in a way others didn’t. Or maybe Louis was just dramatic.

“Yeah, me too. Sleep well last night?”

“Yeah, yeah, good. You?”

Louis shrugged. Quite frankly he slept like shit, his body on edge from being so close to an alpha. He couldn’t relax all night. He woke up this morning with a sore neck from tensing in his sleep.

“Okay I guess. Niall and Liam really like the room cold, though.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, and this was the lamest conversation ever, just small talk, but it was okay. “Are  _ you _ feeling okay?”

“Hm?”

Harry held the pillow tight. “I mean, I guess I never really checked up on you after my, you know. Never really asked how it was for you, I guess.”

“Oh.”

“So how was it? Was everything okay?”

Louis laughed, playing with the edges of his beach towel. “What, want me to write a review and post it on Yelp?”

“Shut up, be serious.” But he was laughing too.

“Okay, okay, fine. It was good. I was comfortable and happy. All was well.”

Harry’s brows furrowed. “Was there anything I could’ve done to, like, make it better for you..?”

He looked down at his thighs, still wet with droplets of water running down his skin. After being here for less than two days, he was already pleasantly tan. His skin looked good like this, if he said so himself. “How much do you remember?”

Harry sat up abruptly, his eyes piercing. “Why? What happened? What did I do?”

“Nothing happened,” Louis rushed to assure. He knew what it was like to come out of his own heat unable to remember the past few days. How disorienting it always was, how scary. “I mean, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was out of your control. You don’t remember anything?”

“I mean… I do remember some things, but it’s mostly. Well. Like, my memory centers around you. Stuff you did. Or like, stuff we did together, I guess. Which makes sense. Because, yeah.”

God, Harry was so awkward about this. Even more awkward than Louis was. Louis actually felt bad for him. And his heart was actually fluttering stupidly because somehow what Harry said was actually kind of sweet. “Do you remember leaving your apartment?”

“Huh? We left?”

Louis explained about the fire alarm and how they had no choice but to evacuate the building.

“So what happened? What did we do? What the fuck.”

“It was okay, we just- We were in an alley. My memory is kind of shaky on this too because it was very stressful? But like, nothing bad happened. We were able to calm each other down.” He conveniently left out the fact that referring to Harry as Alpha seemed to do the trick. “And then when we went back inside there was a bit of an incident with another alpha who lives in your building, but like, it was fine. We made it back home safely.”

“Oh, wow.” His shoulders were impossibly tense and he was tracing random shapes on the blank pillow resting on his lap. Louis for some reason was distracted by the sight of the alpha’s bare chest. “I didn’t, I mean, I didn’t start a fight or anything, did I?”

“No, it was the other alpha who initiated it. You were just protecting me.”

“Oh.”

Louis smiled at him. “Usually I would say I didn’t need anyone to protect me, but I think this time I did. So, thank you.”

It was true; this was something Louis had thought of a lot since Harry’s rut ended. The moment in the lobby kept replaying on loop in his head. He had never been in such a vulnerable position like that before and he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if he had been alone. Fighting off a feral alpha wasn’t something he could realistically do as an omega.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, huffing. “Who was it? He lives in my building? I must know him.”

“I dunno, I didn’t get a good look at him. It wasn’t really his fault, either. I mean, I smelled absolutely indecent, so. No harm, no foul.”

“Yeah, but still. That’s- that’s not cool. You’re sure you’re okay?”

It was Louis’ turn to huff. He rolled his eyes too for good measure. “I’m fine.”

Harry squinted at him. “Did anything else happen that I should know about?”

“Nah, everything else was uneventful.”

“Uneventful,” Harry echoed, like it was an insult, or at least some sort of vaguely negative review.

“It was good,” Louis corrected. He sucked in a deep breath and added, “Fun. I enjoyed it. And you didn’t do anything crazy so I have no fucking clue where you’re getting the idea that you’re somehow hyper aggressive or dangerous or something.”

“What? Really?”

“You’re actually shocked by that? If you had crossed any lines, you know damn well I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.”

“Okay. I just- I don’t understand-”

“Yeah, well, neither do I. Maybe you were acting different around me but I don’t think so, I can’t imagine you being destructive or cruel or whatever people have told you. You were surprisingly tame, for what I was expecting. Just a little bit pushy but that was to be expected, obviously. I mean, you were in  _ rut _ . You had no obligation to listen to me at all but you still did, for the most part.”

“For the most part.”

Louis laughed. “For the most part,” he agreed.

“What does that even mean?”

“It’s fine. You did well. I suggest talking to the people who made you think something bad was gonna happen, because they were wrong. And probably lying to you, for whatever reason. But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get to spend your ruts with someone, so. Yeah. Do with that what you will.”

Harry’s gaze was stuck on the blank white pillow, which must’ve looked interesting to him if he was staring at it so intensely.

“But it was good for you?”

“Yes,” Louis admitted, because the alpha looked surprised at this idea, that he wasn’t the commandeering, aggressive animal someone along the way told him he was. “Very. And that’s all I’ll say because your head’s already big enough.”

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed and Louis felt vulnerable but it was okay. His cheeks were also burning because he felt so obvious about his crush on the alpha, but it was fine. He was fine.

“So if—hypothetically speaking, of course—I asked you to help me out again, what would you-”

Louis cut him off. “Sure,” he said shakily, shrugging as nonchalantly as possible. “I wouldn’t mind.” What a lie. Of course he would mind, he would be over the fucking moon if Harry wanted to do this again. His heart hammered in his chest for revealing something so personal, the idea that if Harry asked, Louis would spend his rut with him again.

“Okay.” The corner of Harry’s lips were turning upward. He was fighting back a smile. Or a smirk. Definitely a smirk. Smug bastard. “And what about your heat?”

“Wh- what?”

“If I wanted to return the favor. Would that be something you would want?”

Louis tugged his towel tighter, his brain short-circuiting. “I… Um…”

Harry patted his knee, weirdly dainty finishers brushing against his bare skin which had since dried but the goosebumps were still there and even more blossomed under the alpha’s touch. “No pressure. And no need to give an answer right now. Just, if you want. The offer’s there. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good. Do you want a drink?”

“I think I’m gonna go back in the sun, it’s freezing up here,” Louis murmured absently, his mind still reeling. “Just wanted to check on you, make sure everything was okay,” he added, as if to explain why he suddenly stormed out of the pool and all the way to the upper deck just to sit by Harry and talk about sex with him. Because that was what happened, essentially. God. He was going crazy.

“Good idea. You’re shaking.”

Louis shot up and out of the chair, not even saying goodbye as he nearly ran back down to safety. What the fuck just happened? What kind of conversation was that?

He flung himself back on his beach chair. He hardly even noticed the sensation of the sun on his skin, though it did make him feel warmer inside and out, finally.

That was certainly a strange development. Harry offering to help Louis with his next heat was more than unexpected. Did this mean that their weird acquaintanceship had been upgraded to a friends with benefits sort of arrangement?

“What’s wrong?” Zayn asked.

“Nothing.”

“You know, I think Niall said something about complimentary spa treatment.”

“Oh, thank fuck.”

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

Three hours later, after the tension had been literally massaged out of his muscles, Louis found himself getting ready for another relaxing night in the hotel room. He had already showered at the spa, and they had all eaten dinner too. The only thing left to do was to get in bed, essentially. So that’s what Louis did.

There was no real explanation for why, when Harry got in bed next to him, he scooched closer. The only excuse he could use was that the massage made him languid enough to ignore the boundaries he tended to set all by himself.

“‘M cold,” he mumbled, and he figured it was okay because he and Harry had already been through a lot together; he thought they deserved the right to be close to each other casually.

The alpha leaned over him and tucked the blankets around him, situating him comfortably. “Good?”

Louis pressed his grin to the underside of the sheet where Harry couldn’t see. “Very. Thank you.”

The five of them fought over what movie to watch and ended up with a stupid action movie Louis didn’t care anything about. He was sleepy so it didn’t matter anyway; he just closed his eyes and blocked out the noise and the world fell away. He was warm and comfortable and Harry was within arm’s reach and everything was okay.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

Louis woke up with a feeling of peace. His night was so restful, he actually felt rejuvenated upon opening his eyes. The muscles in his back especially felt pleasantly sore from yesterday’s massage. The sheets were still tucked around him like a cocoon except this time there was a warm, heavy body draped over his back. Louis would’ve panicked except there was no reason to freak out; it was just Harry.

Louis’ nose was cold from the air-conditioning being on all night so he pulled the comforter up and buried his face in it. Even then the familiar scent of alpha was overwhelming in a good way. It felt like he was high. He only planned on allowing himself a few indulgent moments before getting out of bed, but then he realized there was no rush for him to start the day. He was on vacation. He could afford an extra hour or two in bed.

Harry was still asleep if his deep, loud chainsaw breathing was anything to go by. He had his arms draped around Louis’ body, a heavy, constant weight and pressure. With the alpha plastered to his back Louis became very aware of the complete lack of space between them. He could feel Harry’s morning wood pressing up against his ass and it reminded him of the alpha’s rut; it was a familiar thing to wake up to. At least recently. But it was different now that the situation was less dire and desperate.

After a while of sleepy cuddling, Louis got bored. So he pressed against Harry out of curiosity of what would happen. The alpha’s arms tightened which was both funny and incredible because he was still asleep. He pressed his palm against Louis’ stomach, and the further south, and, oh.

Louis grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled it away before something embarrassing happened. The alpha resisted so Louis tangled their fingers together to distract him. He suddenly felt needy but now wasn’t the time nor the place. The other three were curled up like a pile of puppies in the adjacent bed.

He could feel himself getting wet and he knew it was too late to pretend nothing had happened. He couldn’t just move on from this without doing something about it. Either he would have to sneak to the bathroom to take care of himself in private, or he would bring the alpha with him.

The second option seemed tempting. Louis shook him awake.

“Wha-?”

“Shower,” he said into the sheets. “With me.” And then for good measure he rolled his hips a little bit.

“Oh,” Harry breathed. “Okay. C’mon.”

He let Harry pull him out of bed. The alpha wrapped him up in his arms and herded him into the bathroom. It would’ve been annoying if Louis wasn’t so into this. As soon as the door was locked he pushed him against the wall and started pulling down his joggers.

“What do you want?”

Louis’ mind went inconveniently blank. He wanted Harry to knot him but that was a bit extreme for what they were doing. He wasn’t sure what he was allowed to ask for.

“What do you want, baby?”

“You,” Louis tried, his hand getting tangled in the front of Harry’s shirt as he tugged on it to show how serious he was, how much he wanted this. It felt like a countdown was ticking and they only had a finite amount of time together. “Anything, just- Please.”

When did he get so desperate? It was embarrassing. A more coherent version of Louis was shaking his head in shame right then. He knew the haze of lust would eventually dissipate and he would be confronted with his actions.

“Anything?” Harry said with a little laugh.

That one word and the accompanied laughter was enough to snap Louis out of it. His body tensed and he pushed the alpha away. Louis wasn’t like this, he didn’t do this, he didn’t engage in quick, spontaneous sex with random alphas he was sort of friends with. “Fuck, what the fuck am I doing?”

Harry looked stunned and worried from being pushed away and he tried to reach out to comfort Louis but he was already ducking out of the way.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to joke-” Harry tried, misinterpreting the situation.

“No, no, it’s fine- it’s all me. Sorry. I just need to think clearly for a second.” He dug the heel of his palms into his eye sockets. As if that would help. It only gave him the dull throb of a headache.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No- no, just give me a second. I’m sorry. Fuck. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Me too,” Harry agreed. When Louis peeked his eyes open at him he saw him sliding down the wall to sit criss-cross applesauce on the rug in front of the shower.

A long moment passed.

Harry patted the space of rug in front of him. An invitation. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

“No,” but Louis sank down to the floor to sit across from him anyway.

He was so confused, he had no idea what was going on. Well, kind of. But the truth was something he didn’t feel ready to admit to himself.

It felt bad ignoring his inner wolf, even now. Really bad. Especially when it was screaming at him that his soulmate was right in front of him and he should  _ do something about it. _

“Lou?”

“Shut up, I’m thinking,” he snapped, pressing his own palm to his chest. His rabbiting heart.

If he accepted this feeling as what it was—an indication that Harry was The One, his Alpha—then what was he supposed to do from there? All his life his mother had told him about the feeling, about how to recognize it, how to tell it apart from simple attraction, how to know. But she had never said what to do after recognizing the feeling. After  realizing who it belonged to and what it meant.

They were in the bathroom of their hotel room. Their friends were close by and still asleep but probably going to wake up soon. Louis had previously been desperate enough to let Harry knot him in the bathroom but now he was just scared. Scared of what this meant and how he was supposed to deal with it.

His eyes burned with tears but there was no way he was going to cry over this, especially in front of Harry. So he curled his fingers to dig his nails into the heel of his palms, and decided to bite the bullet.

“You know how omegas have an extra sense that can tell them when they’re in danger and stuff?”

Harry’s brows furrowed before he met Louis’ eyes and squinted. “You’re in danger? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Have you heard of that before? Do you believe it?” Louis pressed. It wasn’t exactly widely accepted, but it was at least a commonly known phenomenon.

“Well, yeah.”

“Okay,” Louis breathed. He had to just say it. It would be a lot easier once he just  _ said it. _ “And there’s a similar feeling that also tells an omega when they’ve found their mate. Their true mate, like a soulmate or something. Their Alpha. Or, well, not always an alpha, but- Yeah.”

Harry stared at him but it was clear he understood. “Okay… And this is something,” he licked his lips. “This is something you’ve experienced?”

Louis nodded, sitting up straighter.

“For a while?”

“Uhh, kinda.”

“Okay,” Harry said, tapping his fingers on the slip of tile beside the rug. “Go on.”

Covering his face with his hands, Louis sighed. He couldn’t do this, not face-to-face with all of the intense eye contact and their scents permeating the small room. It was easier with his hands covering his eyes. There was no need to stall; he decided to just go for it.

“I think- I mean, I know- It’s you.”

He peeked out from behind his hands to watch Harry’s reaction. His lips parted in a quiet “Oh.” Surprise was evident on his face and Louis wondered where Harry thought he had been going with that.

Louis offered him a weak smile as if to assuage the shock.

“Are you- You’re sure?”

“Yes, very.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “When did you… find out? We’ve known each other for years.”

“It was only recent,” Louis assured, knowing what he was thinking, that the omega would keep something like this from him for years. “I mean, I guess I’ve always had sort of a feeling,”  _ a crush on you _ , he didn’t say, “but it wasn’t until the bowling alley that I knew.”

“The bowling alley?”

“When Liam said you met an omega at Blue’s who triggered your rut early.” Louis was embarrassed by it but it was the truth.

“Oh. Ohhhhhh.” It sounded like it finally dawned on Harry, what this meant. “So you don’t hate me?”

“Hate you?”

“Yeah, I thought you hated me.”

“Oh,” he hadn’t known Harry thought that. Now all the times Zayn told him Harry was just intimidated by him made sense. “I don’t hate you. I never hated you. We’re mates?” He added the last part hesitantly.

“Mates,” Harry repeated, as if trying out the word. “Soulmates.”

Louis cringed. “Only if you want to be. Well, kind of. I mean, we’ll always be meant for each other but you still have a choice if, um, being with me is something you don’t want.”

Harry shook his head. “How could you say that? Of course I want you.”

“Oh.” The feeling of relief that rushed through Louis’ body was insane. “I thought you hated me.”

“You thought  _ I _ hated  _ you _ ?”

“You always acted disgusted by me,” Louis argued, uncomfortable with the way Harry was looking at him like he was insane.

“What? How?!”

“By my scent. I don’t know. You never acknowledged I’m omega, and, like, a possible mate. And you always… You always- I don’t know.”

“I- What? Louis. I’m not, and never was, disgusted by you. Or your scent. I never hated you. And I never- I did that because- I just didn’t want to objectify you.”

“Oh.”

“What happened just now, then? When you freaked out on me.”

“Oh, um.” Louis didn’t know how to explain it. “I guess I was a little caught up in waking up with you, but then I remembered what a mess everything was, and I didn’t want to- without telling you.”

“Okay, I get that. I’m glad you stopped us because I don’t think I really want to fuck in this bathroom.” Harry laughed, looking around. “You know?”

“Yeah, same,” Louis agreed. He looked at Harry who was looking back at him. He was so beautiful, even upon just waking up and being yanked into the bathroom. His curls were messy and his skin looked soft. The open expanse of his neck was aesthetically pleasing. Louis wondered what it would be like to bite him there.

“So where do we go from here? Like, what happens next?” Harry wondered.

Louis folded his arms over his chest for the comfort of giving himself a hug. “I’m not really sure. I’ve never done this before.”

“Yeah, me neither. Obviously.”

“Obviously.”

Harry laughed again and it sounded a bit shaky. “Wanna go back to bed and figure it out later?”

_ Only if you cuddle me. _ “Yeah, sure. But, um, give me a minute first, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course.” Harry stood up and helped Louis up too by offering his hand. “Join me whenever you want.”

It was unexpected when Harry cupped the back of his neck with his palm to pull him close. They enjoyed each other’s scents and then Harry kissed him on the forehead. He offered a smile before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Louis brushed his teeth before slipping into the shower. The water had already warmed up and it was a comforting temperature; it felt like a hug. He stood under the spray for a while before deciding he might as well finger himself. That was the biggest motivation of his for asking Harry to give him a moment: he was still hard from almost doing  _ something _ with the alpha and since they were only going to sleep… Well, a little self love didn’t hurt anything.

By the time he was out of the shower, bundled up in a fluffy towel and digging through his bag for something to wear, he was completely lax and de-stressed. He considered slipping into bed naked but figured that was too much, so he opted for a shirt and pajama shorts.

Harry was still awake and lying on his side so Louis crawled in bed beside him and mirrored him.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Good shower?”

“Yeah.” Something about the way he asked made it sound like he knew. He could probably smell it on him. How embarrassing. Louis ignored the way his face heated up and decided to steer the conversation elsewhere. “I’m sorry about that conversation, that was like the weirdest way for us to talk about that. Like, very dramatic and uncomfortable.”

Harry grinned. “You’re right, it wasn’t very conventional. But to be fair I thought you hated me and vice versa, so I think we can let it slide.”

“Right.”

“You can relax now,” Harry told him, pulling the sheets up to their shoulders. “You can let yourself be happy, I mean, if you feel that way. Which I hope you do.”

“I do.”

“We’re in this together now, yeah? We’ll stick together?”

“Yeah, yes,” Louis swallowed, fiddling with his own fingers. No one unsettled him more than Harry. He was the most composed omega in the world until it came to one stupid alpha with a stupid grin and stupid hands that were currently brushing his wet hair away from his eyes. He missed his usual confident self.

“Thoughts on courting?”

“If we do it I want it to be equal,” Louis said, shivering and scooting closer to Harry for his warmth. “It’s so creepy, not to mention sexist, when it’s one-sided.”

“How would that work, then?”

“We both give gifts and plan dates and care for each other. And if your fragile alpha ego can’t handle that, then we’re not really meant for each other.”

“Lucky, ‘cause I don’t have a problem with that.” Harry was smiling and it made Louis want to smile too.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Louis muttered, mostly a joke and mostly to himself.

“Oh? You liked me?” Harry teased.

Well, it didn’t hurt to admit it. Not now, when they knew they were meant for each other. “Yes, Your Highness, I had a stupid ass crush on you and it wouldn’t go away no matter what I did, and then it turns out-”

“-We’re soulmates.”

“Right.”

“To be fair I had a crush on you too, but you’re intimidating as fuck so it was quite confusing. Especially when you offered to help with my rut.”

So Zayn was right about that. Louis covered a laugh with his fist, exasperated. “Can we go to sleep now?”

Harry pulled Louis closer and cuddled him to his chest. “I can’t believe I fucked you so well you fell in love with me.”

“Oh my god, you can’t just say shit like that. And I knew before your rut, so fuck off.”

They were quiet for a moment as Louis burrowed his face in Harry’s chest. It was quickly becoming his favorite place to be. He liked the feeling of the alpha holding him too, one arm under his neck and wrapped around his shoulders, the other slung over his waist. Louis was someone who could rarely sit still but the skin-on-skin contact calmed him enough to make it feel easy.

“Are we gonna tell the guys?”

“What would we tell them?” Louis wondered.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should wait, and just let them figure it out for themselves.”

“Seems fair. And easy.”

“Okay. Can I kiss you?”

“I feel like that’ll lead to unsavory activities,” Louis mumbled, but pressed his lips to Harry’s anyway.

It was a good first real out-of-rut kiss, languid and comfortable. Louis tangled his fingers in Harry’s hair because he could, now, and because Harry liked it enough to detach their lips just to tell him,  _ do that again, please. _

As expected, instead of making them want to go to sleep as was their plan, kissing like this made them wish they had the room to themselves. Arousal tended to inhibit rational functioning especially in alphas and Harry was struggling not to be too possessive or territorial. But Louis knew it was hard for him to not wake up the others and tell them to get the fuck out.

“I could- We could do it, real quiet. I could take care of you. Just like, with fingers or something, I could-”

“Harry, chill out.” Louis pulled the alpha’s hand away from the waistband of his shorts. “We’re not doing anything here.”

“But what if-”

He kissed him again just to get him to shut up. They rolled around in bed more but tried to stay quiet, which clearly didn’t work because Niall woke up and started throwing things at them to get them to shut up.

“For fuck’s sake, I’m happy for you guys and all but can you not do that right now? When we’re all in the same room and there’s no escape from your sex sounds? Pretty please?”

And of course when Louis is told not to do something, he does the exact opposite.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

H a r r y

 

“So what happened? I thought you two didn’t like each other?”

Harry shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. He had been drinking since noon because that was what people did on vacation, apparently. It was nice, though, to recline on a comfortable chair in the shade after a few hours in the sun, with a cold glass in his hands.

“It was your rut, wasn’t it,” Liam muttered, starting another sudoku puzzle.

“He knew before then,” Harry smirked, tapping his fingers on the glass and playing with the condensation. From the upper deck he had a good vantage point of Louis sunbathing by the edge of the pool. He had just gotten out of the water so he body was shimmering in the sun like a precious gem.

He was very pleasing to look at. Harry was very lucky.

“Knew what?”

“That I’m his Alpha.”

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

They got some time to themselves the next day, when Niall, Liam, and Zayn decided to go out to dinner and both Harry and Louis conveniently felt like staying in. By then, everyone knew they were together, albeit unofficially, so it was no secret. Liam’s last request upon leaving the room was to  _ please don’t do anything in our bed. _

So they left the second bed alone but defiled pretty much every other surface in the room. Their own bed, the floor, the window, the mirror, the kitchen counter, the shower… the list went on. They only had two hours at most so they had decided to make the most of it.

They ended up in front of the mirror again, with Louis bent over the desk. He arched back to meet each of Harry’s thrusts and he was so gorgeous it made Harry’s heart throb with deep affection. He couldn’t stop running his hands all over hm; it felt satisfying and fulfilling to hold him.

He draped his body over Louis’ as he pushed his knot in with a groan because it felt good to encompass him like this, to protect him. The mixture of their scents was driving him crazy and he got lost in it, lapping at Louis’ neck as Louis whimpered and moaned beneath him. He pulled him off with his hand, stripping his cock until it was just enough to push him over the edge and come.

Louis body relaxed on the desk but Harry was hardly paying attention because his mind was a mess of  _ my omega _ , and  _ so good _ , and  _ meant to be _ .

“Fuck, Harry! What the fuck?!”

He tried to ask  _ huh? _ but his mouth was already occupied. The typical pleasure of knotting was amplified and everything felt especially blissful. Euphoric.

Which made him then realize he had sunk his teeth into the marking spot on Louis’ neck.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry,” he gasped, pulling away enough to speak and staring down at the bit of blood. The inside of his mouth tasted like metal but he hardly noticed as waves of pleasure ran through him. “It was an accident, I didn’t mean to do that-”

“You’re such an idiot,” Louis panted. He slumped forward on the desk and buried his face in his arms, moaning.

Harry was still shaken and literally shaking from what he did, unable to believe it. He had just tied them together in more ways than one and there was nothing they could do about it now. That wasn’t part of the plan at all, they had barely even talked about courting let alone  _ bonding _ .

He apologized in between instinctual licks to the mark, soothing the sore skin and hopefully calming his omega as well. He felt so bad about it, and so scared that Louis would hate him.

“It’s fine, Harry,” Louis said eventually, once he had regained his breath and wherewithal enough to say something that wasn’t just calling him a knothead.

“Please don’t cry,” Harry begged.

“I’m not crying, you’re crying.” It was partly a lie; they were both crying. The tidal wave of various emotions was a lot to handle. “Can we go sit down?”

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ torso to keep him steady and they waddled over to the bed, where he sat down and pulled the omega with him until the were spooning, facing the window and looking out at the ocean and the big blue sky above it.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Louis laughed, reaching back to grab Harry’s hand and interlace their fingers.

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbled into his shoulder, nosing at his skin in apology. “I have no excuse. That was really stupid of me.”

“Are you sorry that we’re bonded?”

It felt like a trick question but he knew the only way to answer it was in honesty. “I wanted us to bond but I didn’t necessarily want it to happen so soon.”

The omega reached up to his neck to feel the mark, wincing when his fingers touched the tender, ruptured skin. They came away bloodied. “Good, we’re on the same page then. The only thing I’m mad about is that I have to explain this to my mom. So thanks for that.”

Harry cringed at the thought, then went back to licking to bond mark because it seemed to please Louis, not to mention Harry’s inner wolf.

“I love you,” Louis whispered. “I think because we’re bonded now, I’m allowed to say that.”

The tingles of happiness that spread through his body at those words were uncanny. “I love you,” Harry told him, pressing his cheek against Louis’ back and reveling in his warmth and his soft skin. “I’ve loved you for a while now.”

Laughter bubbled out of Louis and he buried his face in a pillow to contain it. “I can’t believe we just did that,” he groaned, “We are literally  _ that _ couple that accidentally bonds. I hate us.”

“You love us,” Harry corrected. He tried not to smile but he couldn’t help it; he could feel his omega’s emotions through the bond, experiencing the same love and happiness Louis was experiencing.

“What’re we gonna do when they get back?”

Harry squeezed Louis’ hip, thinking about it. Their friends would be back soon and that was a problem. He and Louis were still tied together and his knot was going to take forever to go down since they had just bonded.

And then what? All he wanted to do in the near future was fuck his omega into oblivion. He couldn’t respectably do that if there were other people in the room.

“I think we should see if we can get another room. I can pay for it,” Harry offered. “We just have to hope they have an opening.”

Louis craned his neck to give him a kiss on the jaw, brushing his lips against his skin and making him shiver. Suddenly Harry was thinking about having Louis like this all the time. And this was his life. This was the promise of his future.

The omega started laughing in a way that made his body shake because he tried to contain it.

God, he loved Louis, and he was his. Finally. His omega. He couldn’t contain the fond, excited smile that lit up his face. They were bonded; they belonged to each other. They would spend the rest of their lives together.

“What is it?”

“Niall’s gonna be so pissed when he finds out we ruined this vacation.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I always love to hear your favorite (or least favorite!) parts of the story, so leave a comment if you want to!
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